I then tried it in the room the wireless router is located, and no lights came on at all. I was right next to the access point and got no response. Plus, when it does work it takes almost as long to register a signal as it does to bootup your notebook.

Bottom line: If you think this device is going to save you the time of opening up your notebook computer you are sadly mistaken. Its readings are so false, especially on the negative side, it's pretty much worthless.

In Kensington's defense, they told me they are changing the firmware to improve the product, but they didn't give me a date as to when these new units will ship. So, until then, this thing is just an expensive key fob.

50 of 53 found the following review helpful:

Don't...Not at all worth it.  Aug 05, 2003
By K. Karlenzig "DK Mann"
This product seems to have great potential but in the end it is a great disappointment. Press the button and try to guess if it's actually working, it's hard to tell what it is doing. I tried using it at several locations, including my home where I have an excellent signal. It did not pick up a signal 9 times out of 10.
Even if it did work, the 3 LEDs are barely adequate and absolutely unreadable outside in daylight. It is also flimsy feeling.
Don't waste your time and money on this.

16 of 17 found the following review helpful:

Not Worth the money  Apr 22, 2004
By Thomas B. Wright "Blair Wright"
This device is advertised to find networks from up to 200 feet but you will be lucky to break 50 feet. The LED lights are also very hard to see under daylight conditions

14 of 15 found the following review helpful:

Doesn't work as expected  Aug 14, 2003

It says it finds wireless networks instantly. It doesn't.

From their FAQ's. Terrible answers to serious questions:

Q: My network at work isn't detected by the wifi finder, what gives?
A: There are 2 possibilities:

1) Your work has a secure network, by design the wifi finder will not detect networks that do not want to be detected.

2) Your work is using a recently upgraded form of 802.11g. Network speed helps productivity so it is likely your IS manager is always looking for ways to go faster. The wifi finder design uses a version of 802.11g prior to that standard's finalization. It is possible that your network has been upgraded and wifi finder does not yet know how to look for that network protocol.

----------------------------------------------------------------

Q: No network is detected but I know one exists what is wrong?
A: Here are a few of the many possibilities:

1) The protocols for wifi are still being developed, changes in network standards may cause wifi finder to not find those newer networks.

2) Some non-standard network settings may cause the not be detected.

3) Radio waves are tricky to predict - how often has your cell phone lost a signal in a busy area? Radio waves are subject to many kinds of interference. This happens with wifi too. Occasionally a slight change in position or angle with respect to the wireless base station will affect the signal. Even a good HotSpot may have a coldspot!

4) You may have missed the indication. Wifi finder searches every 2 seconds for another network, this could mean that the green lights indicated a network for only 2 seconds, this is more so the case in weaker networks and it's easy to miss the LEDs in bright sunlight (nice surfing outdoors isn't it?)

12 of 13 found the following review helpful:

I'll send you mine, for the cost of postage  Jan 31, 2006
By Rick Schmidt
This is a piece of junk; I sort-of had a decent impression of Kensington products, but after buying this and walking around airports and malls and streets like an idiot (for never finding a single hot-spot, even though I knew they were there) I will no longer buy anything with the Kensington name on it.

If anyone wants it, email me and I'll send it to you for the cost of postage. but be fore-warned: it's a piece of crap.

See all 22 customer reviews on Amazon.com