hField Wi-Fire triples wireless range
updated 04:20 pm EDT, Thu October 5, 2006
hField Wi-Fire Antenna
The just announced QuickerTek Connect may already have a challenger in the race to extend wireless range. An American startup firm named hField has just released its Wi-Fire external antenna for laptops. As with the Connect, the Wi-Fire connects to a laptop's USB port and amplifies the wireless signal. Unique to hField's system is its radar-style receiver. The antenna can be rotated horizontally until the indicator shows a strong connection. Hotspots as far as 1,000 feet away or signals as weak as -98 dBm can be picked up by the device, according to the company. It currently works only with computers using Windows but is expected to work with Macs soon. Interested laptop users can order the Wi-Fire today from the hField website for $109; students get a special $89 price at their local campus stores.
