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October 29, 2004

Another Wi-Fi Detector

By Glenn Fleishman

Hawking will release a more directional Wi-Fi detector: It’s big, it’s $35, and it looks like a Star Trek communicator (old style), but it’s designed to offer more directionality and differentiate between Wi-Fi and other 2.4 GHz transmissions. However, it’s not really much of an advance (if at all) over the Chrysalis WiFi Seeker, which is small, slightly less expensive, differentiates Wi-Fi from other electromagnetic radiation, and is pretty directional.

What I’m waiting for (and Gizmodo is, too) is a detector with a small LCD that scrolls through the open and closed SSIDs found in the neighborhood. We want a WiFi Sniffer—a WiFi Wardriver on a keychain. [link via Gizmodo]

Update: Okay, Julio Ojeda-Zapata is spookily ahead of the curve, in this piece datelined tomorrow. It’s almost Hallowe’en, so a message from beyond (tomorrow at least) seems appropriate.

Ojeda-Zapata writes about Canary Wireless’s Digital Hotspotter, a device that does, in fact, have an LCD screen. It’s $50, but it provides wardriving details: open or closed, SSID, encryption type. And signal strength. And multiple signals. The lucky so-and-so has been walking around with one of these units, which goes on sale “later this month”—but there isn’t much later this month, so perhaps in November.

Both Klaus Ernst and Ojeda-Zapata point out, too, that PDAs are excellent Wi-Fi sensors with the right hardware and software, tho’ a little pricier than a handheld dedicated unit.

Posted by Glennf at October 29, 2004 9:09 AM

Categories: Gadgets

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