Having recently changed ISP’s, and not having my Data plan associated with my phone, Axim x51v via BT DUN, I have become dependent on wireless access for all online functionality with my device.

There are plenty of open networks where I live, at least two that I can connect to at my local train station, waiting for the commute in the morning.

It’d be nice to know when your near a network that you can connect to without pulling out your device though, so offered the chance to have a look at USB Fever’s Wifi Detector, I thought I was killing two birds with one stone. SO, how did it fare ?

The Wifi Detector, pretty much comes as you see it pictured above, straight out of the box. A sealed unit, complete with wrist strap attached. Now the one I received is a green model, compared to the one in the promo shot, but my photo’s of the device are not as great as I would like them to be.

The device does one thing, detects nearby wifi hotspots and give you an indication of the strength of the signal, with a push of the large central button. It then scans for networks, indicated by three green LED’s flashing, which either go solid green when a signal is detected, or another red LED lights if there is none.

You’ll get a better idea from the video below

So how did this gadget work, well poorly is a polite way of putting it. The video was taken at a range of about 3 feet from my wifi router, to get a full strength signal like that. Walk a room away and signal strength went down to two LED’s. At a range where I could still connect to the same router with my Axim the detector popped up a red LED. The detector only seemed to have a range of approximately 50 feet, before it showed a red LED (no signal).

Another thing that doesn’t make this a must have, is the lack of indication of what sort of wifi you are detecting, b, g, both etc, or any indication of security encryption. Although, I didn’t have high expectations of a gadget that retails for US$12.99

Have a look at USB Fevers site for complete product details.