It beats paying for Wi-Fi at Starbucks

Cities keep promising to blanket us all with free Wi-Fi networks, but we're not holding our breath. At the same time, though, we're way too cheap to pay $10 just to read our e-mail while we have a soy latte at Starbucks.

So given our frugal nature, we're conflicted over whether it's worth shelling out $70 for a wireless detector like the DigiWifi from ThinkGeek. On one hand, that's only seven T-Mobile day passes at Starbucks; on the other--well, it's $70.

This particular device does claim to be a step above other Wi-Fi detectors, which generally just indicate the presence of a wireless network and its signal strength. The DigiWifi also provides security status, channel and SSID information on its backlit LCD display. It's your call whether those features make it worth the price.

(Photo: ThinkGeek)