The Story

Wi-Fi is a miracle of mankind’s unending ingenuity and constant thirst for knowledge. Until it’s gone that is and it becomes the cursed spawn of Satan’s flaky tech ways. Wi-Fi Finder aims to take the hassle out of finding a sound broadband connection by mapping out the nearest hotspots, both free and paid for, on a slick radar screen or Google Map. It works pretty well too.

The Experience

It seems cruelly ironic that just as we were setting up to write this review, our Wi-Fi connection decided to completely flake out on us. Needless to say in this hour of need we turned to Wi-Fi Finder for help and it came through with flying colours. The app is really oh so simple. It won’t work unless you have ‘Use GPS satellites’ and ‘Use wireless networks’ turned on in your Android settings but, unlike other GPS reliant apps, WiFi Finder will actually remind you if these crucial functions are turned off. From then on, the acts of finding and connecting to a Wi-Fi network are near enough idiot proof.

The ‘Wi-Fi Scanner’ will check for available networks in your close vicinity and then lay them out according to whether they’re password protected or not. If you find something here, simply fill your boots with free internet. If not, hit the ‘Public Wi-Fi Near Me’ option to discover a range of available networks which will probably require you buying a coffee or a Big Mac before it’s polite to gorge on glorious video streaming and the like.

Wi-Finder claims to feature ‘over 500,000 free and paid locations in 144 countries worldwide’ which is a huge figure by any stretch of imagination. Given the app found 100 networks in our local area however, we’d say this claim could be true or at least not an outright lie.

A lot of this app’s criticism on the Android Market stems from the fact that 90 per cent of the featured ‘Public Wi-Fi’ hotspots either belong to BT Openzone or McDonalds. That’s more of a problem with the UK’s Wi-Fi availability than the app however, and since you can search for available networks by venue (eg. bars, libraries and office buildings) then there’s really no complaints to be found from us here.

All in all, Wi-Fi Finder is an essential tool for your Android. Download it now.

Additional Info

Requires Android 2.2 or higher

Download W-iFi Finder from the Android Market

Check out more app reviews here