Skatter Tech

I wanted to find WiFi signals in my area, but it’s to hard to walk around with your laptop running NetStumbler. And the Kensington WiFi finder (~$40) is a waste of money if you have already have the Sony PSP, and you don’t get anywhere as much detail as the PSP provides. The new Kensington WiFi Finder “Plus edition” has a few nice features and supports 802.11b, 802.11g, Bluetooth. It has 5 LEDs which display the signal strength. Even though the PSP only supports 802.11b, it shows the signal strength on percentage scale (ex: 0%, 50%, or 100%). The PSP also tells you whether the signal is WEP encrypted or not, which is something that the Kensington WiFi Finder doesn’t. There are also many hacks on the web that show you how to add an external antenna to your PSP. To test this out do the following:

• Start up your PSP and go to Settings.
• Go all the way down to Network Settings.
• Choose the Infrastructure Mode.
• Create a New Connection named “Tracker” just so you dont mess up the settings you have set for your primary access point.
• Now go to the next step and allow it to scan.
• You will get a list of WiFi HotSpots close by.
• Press O to go back and scan once again.

The scan will also be much faster if you disable the WiFi power save mode, which you can disable it in the PowerSave Settings Menu. This is an easier way to find WiFi if you have a PSP and you don’t want to boot up your computer, but it’s very annoying to go through all the menu’s everytime.

Link: WiFi Finder/WiFi Finder Plus (PDF) | External Antenna (HowTo)
Related: PSP MultiPlayer With One UMD | The Broken on PSP