The Richter Scale^®

I travel a lot, and I depend heavily on being able to connect to the Internet most anywhere and any time. For speed reasons, I prefer using my notebook’s WiFi connection, but have as back-up a built-in Cingular data connection, and a T-Mobile plug-in PC Card.

For WiFi, I pay both a monthly subscription to T-Mobile and Boingo. T-Mobile Hotspot service is great because it’s what’s offered at American Airlines Admiral’s Clubs, many Starbucks cafes, and Borders Books & Music stores, among others. Boingo is useful because they have roaming agreements with a slew of other WiFi hot spot operators, including Wayport, which is used by many hotels. So, instead of paying $9.95/day for access, I pay $21.95 a month. Considering I have already had nearly 60 hotel nights this year so far (and we’re only 4 months into the year), that’s serious savings.

One of the biggest frustrations of using WiFi connections, however, is finding them, and that’s where the Digital Hotspotter from Canary Wireless comes into play.

(Courtesy of Canary Wireless)

I have been testing the HS10 model of their Digital Hotspotter (MSRP $59.95) for about three months now, and it certainly works as promised. Weighing in at 2.5 ounces (71 grams) with a pair of AAA batteries, the Hotspotter, with a mere button press, will allow you find 802.11b and 802.11g access points in the area (the ones in the 2.4GHz spectrum). It’s not fool proof, but almost every time I tested it it showed the access points I knew to exist in the area, as well as a surprising number of access points which I was not aware of. I have used the Hotspotter all over the U.S. and in a number of foreign locales as well. The few times that known access points were not shown required merely rescanning with the device - a process as easy as just pressing the sole button on the Digital Hotspotter.

The things I like about the Digital Hotspotter include that it is small and compact, that it is quite fast in locating hot spots (and showing them by SSID - the network ID of the hot spot), that it gives me an idea of signal strength and whether the access point is “open” (i.e. does not require a password or encryption key). It also provides information on which channel the access point resides (something that is more useful when debugging a wireless network as an advanced user or an administrator).

Canary Wireless suggests that administrators can use the Digital Hotspotter to find unsecured access points, and certainly that has been helpful to me too.

It’s also a lot faster to whip out the Digital Hotspotter and test an area for hot spots than it is to boot a computer, and then use Microsoft’s maddeningly slow “feature” in Windows XP to scan for wireless networks. Once the Hotspotter finds a hotspot is when you need to boot your computer up and try and access the open hot spot.

Be forewarned, however, that there’s no guarantee, however, that hotspots flagged as “Open” by the Hotspotter will actually allow you free Internet access. Making that determination requires a much more complicated device and process (and takes quite a bit of time) - something that at this point is best done by your computer.

At $59.95, the HS10 Digital Hotspotter is a pretty good deal for all it does, and merits a 8.5 out of 10.0 on The Richter Scale.

I should note that the Digital Hotspotter has been out since late 2004, at least according to the user forums on the Canary Wireless web site, and it is my understanding that a new version is due out this summer.

Here is my wishlist of what I would like an advanced model of this device to additionally offer:

- A recessed button so that it does not accidentally trigger (and run down the batteries) when in my computer bag.
- A second button which would let me ask the Hotspotter to do an in-depth analysis of how “Open” the currently displayed access point was. This would involve actually connecting to the access point, trying to get assigned an IP address, and then trying some HTTP (web) requests to see if sign-in is required (e.g. like for T-Mobile or other access-for-pay wireless gateways) or if the HTTP requests are processed correctly (indicating a truly open, unrestricted gateway)
- Optionally under this second button function, the device should be configurable to check to see if one or more of a series of Internet ports are open in the network the access point is connected to, including e-mail, VPN, and SSH/telnet.

The above items would be incredibly useful to travelers and administrators alike, but likely also challenging to implement in a small battery powered package. Although, if size were not an issue, then an optional GPS module which allows the unit to report on all access points and their characteristics at a given location which could then be logged automatically would be sweet.

Mind you, there are some legal concerns here too. The St. Petersburg Times reported last summer that a man was arrested for “stealing” access to an unsecured WiFi access point in a residential area and charged with “unauthorized access to a computer network” - that’s a third-degree felony. And last month in Illinois another individual was fined US$250 and put under court supervision for a year for using a WiFi access point that he was not authorized to use (even though it was “Open"). So if you are using a Digital Hotspotter or any other mechanism to find open hotspots to use, beware the potential legal ramifications if you get caught by someone objecting to your use of their access point.