Got a modern Dell laptop? You may have a built in hot-spot finder you didn't know about

Note: This blog post is from 2007. Some content may be outdated--though not necessarily. Same with links and subsequent comments from myself or others. Corrections are welcome, in the comments. And I may revise the content as necessary.

Called the "wi-fi catcher", it's that switch on the left side (on my unit), which I knew could be used to turn the wireless adapter off or on. But if you pull it toward you, that enables this "wi-fi catcher".

Cooler still, and to the point above, it turns out that this feature works even when the laptop is turned off (or in standby or hibernate). One thing, though: you need to enabled this feature using the Dell QuickSet mechanism (one of your icons in the system tray).

You can learn more about the wi-fi catcher, in this case about the d620, at:

https://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/latd620/en/UG/wireless.htm#wp1138019

Here's a screenshot of the switch:

And an explanation of that screenshot is here, including an explanation of the colors you'll see and what they mean.

Finally, I'll point that I first read of this feature myself at this review:

http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=2846&laptop=Dell+Latitude+D620+Review

Sure, we should all read our owner's manuals, but at a minimum, sometimes you learn more from someone's distilled review. :-)

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