Netstumbler is a great program for detecting Wireless Access Points, and more importantly, the signal strength. It’s a must-have program that every tech/nerd should have.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t work in Microsoft Vista - but there is an alternative. It’s called Vistumbler. personally I haven’t tried it, but friends of mine say it looks and feels very simialr to the ‘original’.

I thought I’d do a little research on the Linksys WRT54G wireless router, of which I own two of. I find them to be a very stable and reliable unit.

The WRT54G, WRT54GS, WRT54GL, and WRTSL54GS are popular Wi-Fi router products from Linksys. The devices are capable of sharing Internet connections among several computers via Ethernet and wireless (802.11b/g) data links.

The WRT54G was first released in 2003. The WRT54GS is nearly identical except for additional RAM and SpeedBooster software.

Linksys released the WRT54GL in 2005 to support third-party firmware based on Linux, after the original WRT54G line was switched from Linux to VxWorks, starting with version 5. The WRTSL54GS is similar to the WRT54GS, while adding additional firmware features and a USB 2.0 port (referred to as StorageLink) which can be used for a USB hard disk or flash drive.

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WRT54G history lesson

Having my Asus A636N PDA with wireless built in was a good idea I thought to check the strength of the wireless signal around the house rather than carrying a bulky laptop.

Finding a wifi-scanner that worked on the ASUS A636N took a bit of searching, trial and error. Two that I tried working with Pocket PC 2003, not Windows Mobile 5.0 which the Asus comes with.

MiniStumbler (a cut down version of the brilliant netstumbler program) didn’t work. Neither did WiFiGraph. I didn’t get to try Retina but it looks like a good program.

Also, RW Wifi Scanner supposedly works as well, but I did not try this (Note: this app costs $3.99 whereas all the others are freeware).

I tried WiFiFoFum. It has a nice interface - either a list view or radar view which is prefect for war driving (if you are into that sort of thing). It also has the ability to use the GPS and export the co-ordinates to such formats as TomTom POI, netstumbler so they can then be used in those programs.

The download comes with Compact Framework 2.0 SP2, both which are installed via Active Sync. So if you need to uninstall them for any reason, it can be done easily.

To get this to work with my ASUS A636N, I got into the options menu (once started up), and turned the device off/on. worked without any hassles, and the only other option I would turn on is the aggressive scanning feature so you get real time signal strength updates.

At the time of writing I had not tried the GPS (or export) option.

Overall, a handy little utility to have installed on your PDA to scan wireless networks. It certainly helped me find where the blackspots were in my house.

A credit report is meant to be scrutinized. Unfortunately the populace is only concerned with more credit cards. They have gotten into the internet banking too, using their online credit card heavily. The credit cards have indeed lost their actually purpose.

What’s that I hear you say? A memory card that has wireless built in? Sure does.

The Eye-Fi memory card adds wireless support to digital cameras that don’t already have it. Perfect to get rid of those pesky cable that clutter up desks.

It supports automatic wireless uploading to your computer as well as social/blogging based photo sites such as Facebook, Picasa and Gallery2.

It’s very easy to do. Just plug your card in, and configure the wireless from your computer. When Eye-Fi is within wireless range, it will automatically upload your pictures for you. The card also performs like a traditional memory card.

The price is around $99 which is a bit steep, but for the convenience factor alone, is well worth the price.

A very cheap way to extend your Wifi range!

My wireless access point sits down one end of the house, and getting a decent signal is very difficult in all areas of the house. I’ve tried a few different antennas with little or no difference - a complete waste of money. My solution was to add another AP so I had coverage over the whole house.

I have read of a few other (cheap) options. Found one on youtube which looks worth trying …..

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Extend your Wifi range