Mac only: Leopard's built-in Airport utility doesn't do much except show you what Wi-Fi networks are nearby, and which require a password—but free utility AirRadar does much more. AirRadar detects available Wi-Fi networks (in my case, more networks showed up in AirRadar's list than in Leopard's default menubar drop-down), and displays more information like signal strength, last seen timestamp, channel, signal average, max, and min. Disconnect from networks without turning off your Airport card, get Growl notifications, and set the scan interval with AirRadar too. You can even save networks as favourites, instead of just hopping onto any old open network by default. If you've got a spotty signal you'll appreciate AirRadar's signal to noise line graphs, too. AirRadar is a free download for Mac only. For more Wi-Fi know-how, see our top 10 Wi-Fi boosts, tweaks and apps.

Tech site Ars Technica runs down the basics of securing your home wireless network with the most secure and up-to-date methods. The main takeaway is that when you enable encryption on your wireless router, use WPA encryption instead of WEP, because it's better and stronger.

Unlike WEP, WPA uses a 48-bit initialization vector and a 128-bit encryption key. More importantly, however, WPA uses what's called the Temporary Key Integrity Protocol (TKIP). Whereas WEP recycles the same key for encrypting all the packets flowing across the network, WPA's TKIP changes the encryption key every single time a packet is transmitted. This, combined with the use of longer keys, prevents a hacker from compromising a router simply by passively observing a large enough set of packet transmissions.

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Windows only: By default Windows hides WEP and WPA keys stored on your PC to connect to various Wi-Fi networks, but freeware utility WirelessKeyView lists them for you. When you've forgotten that Wi-Fi network key, run WirelessKeyView to see all the networks your Windows PC has ever connected to using its default Wireless Zero Configuration mechanism. (This utility doesn't reveal keys stored by third-party network connection software.) Delete keys from old networks that you no longer need, and easily copy keys to the clipboard to send or save. WirelessKeyView is a free download for Windows XP and Vista. Thanks, Vijay!

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When you're just out of range of your mum's neighbour's Wi-Fi signal this over the holiday season, you might want to have the Wi-Fire Range Extender USB signal booster on hand. We haven't tried it ourselves, but a poster at the Cool Tools web site says:

I was in a remote Alabama campground and their little access point was perhaps a few hundred feet away. With the internal Wi-Fi adaptor in my Thinkpad (it's Mac/PC compatible), no go. With the Wi-Fire aimed carefully I got a solid, workable signal. I just rotate it around until I get the best signal.

Recently we told you our Top 10 Wi-Fi Boosts, Tweaks and Apps. Reader Krusher_00 commented with a handy localisation tip for using NetStumbler for detecting networks:

"Make sure you've got the correct channel selected. In Australia the standard is to use either channel 1, 6 or 11 as these are the only 3 channels that don't interfere with each other.

If you see your neighbours have points on 1, 3 and 5 for example then your wireless is going to be affected if you decide to use channel six.

You can however have points on the same channel, this just decreases the maximum throughput that can be achieved (more noticeable if they're using their wireless all the time)."

Thanks for the tip, Krusher. :) 

Flickr user danalee advertises her open WiFi network with a simple sign that reads "Steal this connection." Right on.

No doubt you've got a home wireless network or you've connected to hotspots at the local coffee shop or airport—but are you getting the most out of your Wi-Fi? Whether you want to strengthen, extend, bridge, secure, sniff, detect, or obscure your signal, today we've got our top 10 best Wi-Fi utilities and tweaks for the power wireless user. Photo by thms.nl.

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