In December of last year we introduced a new product to our web site, the Wi-Fire from hField Technlogies (http://www.hfield.com, available in our store by clicking here.). The Wi-Fire is a wireless USB adapter that boasts of long range connections and fast speeds. Most of the time when we get a new product, we add it to our web site and that's it. We were so impressed with the Wi-Fire after doing some comparison testing vs. other wireless products on the market, that we featured it on our weekly podcast (twice).
As we have sold more of these adapters since that time, we wanted to take a moment to re-review the product and provide some feedback we have received from folks who have purchased the item. In mid January, I took a trip to visit a relative, who I have visited before. She lives in an area where homes are few and far between, where few people have broadband, and where WIFI signals are virtually nonexistent. In past travels I have taken some of the best wireless cards on the market, but was never able to detect any access points and was stuck working via dialup access for my whole trip. This time I took the usual suspects in my laptop bag, but also decided to take the Wi-Fire, to see how it handled a real life experience. The first night I was there I hooked up the Wi-Fire to my laptop, and was thrilled to detect several access points, one which was a public WIFI signal from the next town over. I assumed that broadband and wireless service increased in the area since my last visit, so just for comparison, I hooked up some of the other long range options to my laptop to see how they performed. Only one card detected the public WIFI hotspot, and it could not get enough signal to even get a connection. Simply put, had it not been for the Wi-Fire, I would have been stuck using dialup again.
hField Technologies advertises the Wi-Fire as being a long range adapter, capable of ranges up to 1000 feet. In the testing I have done, and the different scenarios in which I have used this item, I have been able to get a better range than this myself, but the range others experience could be better or worse, as wireless range depends on many outside factors, including the strength and quality of the access point to which you are connecting, as well as interference and channel crowding. One thing I can say though is that in all the sales we have had of this item, no one has requested to return the item because it did not meet their expectations. In fact, several customers, who were initially hesitant to buy the item because they had not heard of it before, actually came back to buy more because they were so happy with the performance.
So I am saying this just because I want to sell as many Wi-Fires to people as possible for my company, right? In fact, truth be told, we make a smaller pure dollar profit off the sale of this item than we do some of the other long range kits we sell. The reason I am promoting it is simply because it is the best. It is up to you to decide if it will fit your needs- maybe you don't need as long a range and would prefer a cheaper option. But if you are like me, a person who relies on wireless access when travelling, and range is the most important thing, the Wi-Fire is definitely the way to go.
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