Wifi made easy... sort of

Publisher: Devicescape
Web: www.devicescape.com
Price: Free
Compatibility: Iphone, Windows Mobile, Nokia N & E Series

THE IDEA BEHIND Devicescape Connect is brilliant. Instead of having to memorise handfuls of different SSID's and passwords, with Devicescape Connect you connect automatically as soon as an authorised wireless hotspot is detected.

The software ? which is free ? is really aimed at the latest generation of handsets which support both cellular and Wi-fi capabilities. These include various Nokia handsets; the Apple Iphone and suitable Windows Mobile devices.

In addition, the software will run on a regular XP, Vista or Mac notebook and Wi-fi only devices like the Nokia 700 tablet. However, the functionality tested here is the ability to swap from a cellular to a Wi-fi link, depending on what's available.

A word of warning. Don't try to complete the whole process from the handset itself. It's too easy to make a mistake and very hard to detect it. We know this from bitter experience.

That's because the INQ accidentally inserted a password in upper case lettering instead of lower case. It caused a major headache. So save yourself time by going through the set-up process online from a PC or Mac.

Actually, downloading and installing the application itself was relatively straightforward. Nonetheless, the INQ was disappointed, however, that there wasn't a method of sending the appropriate URL to your handset to make the downloading process faster. It is possible to request the download from the handset's browser. On the Nokia E65 the INQ was using, this was a pain in the butt.

So once again we'd recommend downloading the software over the web and then transferring it to the handset via cable. Having installed the app, the next stage is to sign up with Devicescape and entering the details for any public or private Wi-fi hotspots you use. The INQ tested the service out using The Cloud.

Now you should be ready to roll. With the Nokia, you set the browser to ask for an access point every time you fire it up. Then instead of selecting any of the other options, you pick Devicescape instead. Of course, Devicescape has to be running in the background for this to work.

The app then looks for any available services ? such as The Cloud ? and when it spots that service it securely logs you in.

This is infinitely better than wandering around with the details written on a card in your wallet. Or, worse still, having to feed the details of your credit or debit card into the system in order to pay for Wi-fi airtime.

If there's no Wi-fi point available it is simplicity itself to select your mobile operator's data connection instead. There's no hand-over between the two types of network, though.

Devicescape Connect is supposedly still in beta. However, the only gripe we have with the service is that it can't send the necessary WAP URL directly to your handset via text.

Apart from that, we'd thoroughly recommend it. ?

The Good
Swiftly connects to Hotspots
The Bad
The setup procedure is difficult from a mobile phone
The Ugly
Doesn't send the download URL via text

Bartender's verdict: 8 out of 10