Easy Wireless

Thanks to the Windows Service Pack 2 update, Wi-Fi has become quite easy to manage. If your PC or notebook has a wireless network card, the Windows Zero Configuration Utility will highlight all the available wireless connections and allow you to choose which one you want to connect to.

So why would you want to pay £20 for a product that does exactly the same thing? Well, Easy Wireless promises more features with greater ease of use. It is also designed to replace the various software utilities that come with wireless hardware.

Installation was simple, apart from trying to decipher the long product key that was badly printed on our CD. Once installed, it automatically turns off the Windows Zero Configuration Utility and displays all of the wireless networks in range.

Connecting to your preferred network is as simple as the Windows tool: just double-click on the icon. Easy Wireless will automatically detect what security encryption has been set (if any is being used) and will prompt you for the required details.

Once a network connection is made it will check whether an internet connection is available too.

Easy Wireless allows you to save password settings and will assign an icon to distinguish between a home network and a hotspot. This is very useful as pass-phrases can be hard to remember and long-winded security keys can be even harder. Still, the Windows Zero Configuration Utility does exactly the same thing, minus the icon function.

Easy Wireless can detect wireless networks where the network name is not broadcast. Hidden broadcast names are in place to protect networks from rogue connections, so under normal circumstances you’ll need to know the name to connect.

Easy Wireless may give more information about the network you are connecting to than the Windows Utility but overall we can't see what benefit you are getting over a tool that's provided in Service Pack 2.

We'd go so far as to say that the Easy Wireless box is completely misleading, stating that it "ensures you get connected to your network, not your neighbours " and that Windows won't. This simply isn't true.

In essence, if you want a simple way to connect to wireless networks then download Service Pack 2 free of charge and keep clear of Easy Wireless.