What You Need to Know About Public WiFi Networks
A public WiFi network, or hotspot, allows you to connect your computer or device to the internet. There is a good chance you have connected to public hotspots before at coffee shops, airports, or hotels. While it’s helpful to save on data and stay connected on the go, it’s good to know more about these public networks.
1. If the service is free, you are the product.
That’s a golden rule for the internet in general. Now let’s understand how. Coffee shops provide free WiFi because it brings customers in the door. Hotels provide free WiFi because it’s a competitive amenity and it allows them to serve their hotel website as homepage in the hopes of enticing other purchases. Supermarkets and other retail environments may provide free WiFi in order to triangulate your position through the store, allowing them to gather valuable footpath data.
2. Your home modem may be used as a public hotspot.
Some internet providers turn their customer's internet modems into public hotspots allowing the public to connect. This doesn't affect the customer's internet connection, compromise their security, and in most cases, the customer is not aware their router is being used in this way. Should you be paying for a service, or renting a router that is being used this way? That’s an ethical debate we won’t get into today.If you are an AT&T or Xfinity customer, you can click below to learn how to connect to their public WiFi hotspots nationwide.AT&T / U-verseComcast / Xfinity
3. Expect a few frustrations.
Connecting to a hotspot that has many other users, or out-of-date equipment may cause frustration with slower speeds and connection issues that may affect work flow, video calls, or browsing. Public networks are never as consistent as your home or work network.
4. Connecting to a public network makes you more vulnerable to hackers
The chances that the old lady sipping a latte on the other side of the coffee shop is a hacker are slim, but being connected to a public network brings the risk that someone may snoop on the data coming to and leaving from your computer. The best defense against this is to use a virtual private network, or VPN, when connecting to a public WiFi network.Two simple VPN solutions are Private Internet Access ($) or using the built-in VPN provided by the Opera web browser (Free).Alternatively, wait to get home to do your online banking and other more sensitive browsing.
5. No hotspot? You can create your own.
Public wifi can sometimes cost money, be spotty, or even nowhere to be found. By using your smartphone you can create your own hotspot to connect your computer to the internet. This method does use your phone's data, so make sure you are using it sparingly, or have an unlimited / large data package from your cell provider.
How to create your personal hotspot
A private personal hotspot can be created on most smartphones. There are different steps to setting up a hotspot depending on your device. Here are setup instructions for iPhone and Andriod devices.iPhoneAndroidOnce you turn on the hotspot on your phone, a WiFi network will show up on your computer's WiFi list and you can connect to the internet like normal. Other people can also connect to your network, so make sure it’s password protected.