As opposed to some first-generation WiFi detectors — some of which didn’t even work — this lot fairs much better. All of them include 802.11b & 802.11g support and one even detects Bluetooth. The one that caught my eye, though, was the Digital Hotspotter from Canary Wireless:

The Digital Hotspotter (HS10) is the only device on the market that not only detects a connection and its strength, but can also tell you whether it is encrypted, what channel it is on and the name of the network. You simply press the button and the device starts scanning and then stops once it finds a network. […]

WiFi detectors are useful in theory, but not good for much when they obediently report on the nearby full-signal network… that’s encrypted. With a digital screen which can display the nearby networks’ SSID information, there’re shouldn’t be as much of the doh-it’s-encrypted problem. (Then again, it wouldn’t be able to differentiate from open networks and “open” networks with a for-pay gateway.)

All the same, even though the Digital Hotspotter was the only device with a digital screen and the device with the longest detection range, Handtops wasn’t conclusive in declaring a winner. Apparently, the Digital Hotspotter occasionally had trouble detecting some networks; according to the manufacturer, it could have trouble with some devices that “broadcast their beacon frames at a higher than acceptable data rate”. Still, I don’t see anyone else offering a digital screen and a range of up to 600 ft ;). I may just have to get one of these sometime.

So, on Friday afternoon, I decided to go warwalking. You may have already heard of wardriving — driving around with a laptop looking for WiFi access points — but I needed more granularity than that. So, I made sure my battery was charged and I loaded MacStumbler onto my laptop (MacStumbler is an app which continuously scans for access points).

I had to carry my PowerBook open as it would just go to sleep if I closed it, but I found a comfortable position where I could support it with my left forearm as I rested it against my chest. From there, I just started walking around my apartment complex.

I didn’t really want much road noise as part of my hypothetical spring afternoon, so that actually made my search a bit easier. Heading away from the major roads, I walked towards the trees & paths near the Village clubhouse. I had a good feeling about this area since it was wooded enough to be quiet and peaceful yet there were apartment buildings not far away (hopefully with WiFi emanating from them).

Sure enough, I found a few good spots there. As I don’t yet have a GPS receiver for my PowerBook (still looking for recommendations, if you have any), I just had to record each hotspot’s info the old-fashioned way — with TextEdit. I made notes to myself primarily on how to find each spot (in some ways, like a squirrel trying to remember where he buried his nuts).

I also ensured that each spot had a shady tree nearby :). Then, just to be sure tree was still in range of the signal, I sat down under each tree and tested the signal there (usually by browsing a couple pages from Slashdot). Of course, as long as I had signal-bars, the test-pages would usually load fine. Occasionally, however, I couldn’t connect through some of them :-/.

I also didn’t want to have to walk that far to my WiFi Tree(tm), so I limited my search to about a 15-minute radius from my apartment. I ended up with about half a dozen prospective hotspots and I narrowed it down to two likely candidates. One in particular is a hotspot that’s reachable from one of the benches overlooking the small lake in that area. I figure that a bench would be comfortable and I could also bring along a flat object (like a book) for use as a mousepad next to me.

So, the next time a sunny day comes along, I’m ready. I'm guessing that my one-page list of findings wouldn’t be useful to many people but if you live in The Village, I’d be happy to pass them along.

• 80211HotSpots.com appears to be the mother-lode. It has search-by-city and has all kinds of information. (Quick links: Dallas, Pittsburgh).
• Wifi Maps is a site with maps generated largely from wardriving. There, you can enter a zip code, and you’ll get a list of hits found. (from this site I've learned that there's apparently an 802.11b hotspot in North Park)