IN THIS CHAPTER

Using cellular connections instead of public Wi-Fi

Using public Wi-Fi appropriately

Protecting yourself when using public Wi-Fi

Until relatively recently, there were many occasions during which someone might reasonably want to use public Wi-Fi for connecting to the Internet.

Until the arrival of 4G (the fourth generation of cellular networks), for example, the speed of Wi-Fi connections typically dwarfed the speed of cellular connections. Likewise in many locations, cellular connections were not available, and even if they were, they were only available from phones and cellular-enabled tablets, not from laptops. Furthermore, cellular data plans were typically expensive, especially for travelers leaving the service areas of their providers, so even if you could share your cellphone connection with your laptop, there were financial reasons not to do so.

Today, however, the situation has changed. 4G is ubiquitous, and even faster 5G is available in many areas, making cellular connections fast enough for nearly all types of online activities conducted by the typical adult for work or pleasure. (Certain types of gaming may still be an issue.) The cost of mobile data plans offering sufficient amounts of high speed for people to conduct normal business and personal activities while on the road have dropped dramatically, as has the cost of features that allow sharing of cellular connections from one’s phone to one’s laptop. In other words, in many more cases than just a few years ago, it is possible to leverage a cellular network rather public Wi-Fi without making any significant sacrifice, and in such cases, it is almost always safer to choose cellular over Wi-Fi.

That said, there are still some situations in which you may need to use public Wi-Fi rather than a cellular connection, such as if you are visiting a client in a facility underground where there are no cellular signals, and if Wi-Fi is provided for visitors because of the lack of cellular service. If you are in a situation in which you do need to use public Wi-Fi, you should understand that you can do several things to protect yourself while using it. In this chapter, you discover ten ways to keep yourself and your devices safe while accessing Wi-Fi in public.

Keep in mind that you should never use the Wi-Fi provided by a party who you have reasons to suspect may be trying to hack you, unless you are using a throw-away device and not accessing any accounts whose security you care about.

Use Your Cellphone as a Mobile Hotspot

As mentioned in the introduction to this chapter, if you have an unlimited cellular data plan, and have a good cellular signal, you can avoid the many risks of public Wi-Fi by transforming your cellphone into a mobile hotspot and connecting your laptop and any other devices that lack cellular data service to your cellphone, rather than to public Wi-Fi. If doing so is an option, it almost always pays to choose it.

Turn Off Wi-Fi Connectivity When You’re Not Using Wi-Fi

Turning off Wi-Fi connectivity will prevent your device from (without notifying you) connecting to a network with the same name as one you have previously connected to. Criminals can, and have, set up Wi-Fi access points with names similar to popular public Wi-Fi networks, in an effort to lure people into connecting to poisoned networks that route their victims to phony sites or distribute malware to connected devices. As an added bonus, turning off Wi-Fi will also conserve battery power. At a minimum, turn off AutoConnect to any public Wi-Fi networks.

Don’t Perform Sensitive Tasks over Public Wi-Fi

Do not bank online, shop online, or access medical records online while using a public Wi-Fi connection. Consider not logging into anything that requires you to type a password — especially if there are cameras in the area in which you are working.

Don’t Reset Passwords When Using Public Wi-Fi

You should avoid resetting any passwords over public Wi-Fi. In fact, for the reasons mentioned previously about cameras and people seeing what you are doing, you should refrain from resetting any passwords while in a public location, regardless of whether or not you’re using public Wi-Fi.

Use a VPN Service

If you can’t use a cellular connection and must use the public Wi-Fi connection for a sensitive task despite the recommendation not to do so, at least consider using a VPN service, which adds multiple security benefits. Many popular VPN services are available today.

There is a tradeoff to using a VPN service, however. You may notice that your communications are slightly slower or suffer from greater latency than without the VPN running. Also, consider through which countries you are routing traffic, as in some cases, there may be legal issues that arise.

Use Tor

If you don’t want your browsing history to be tracked by anyone, consider browsing using Tor (see Chapter 4), which bounces your communications through many servers and makes tracking exceedingly difficult. There are even Tor browsers for smartphones. Like a VPN, Tor may slow down your communications.

Use Encryption

Use HTTPS instead of HTTP for all web pages that offer it, to prevent other users on the network from seeing the content of your communications. Likewise, do not access any email service that does not encrypt messages during delivery.

You should be using encryption even when working on your home and work network, but doing so is even more important when using public Wi-Fi.

Turn Off Sharing

If you’re using a computer or device that shares any of its resources, turn off any and all shares before connecting to the public Wi-Fi. If you’re unsure if your device shares resources, check it. Don’t assume that it does not.

Have Information Security Software on Any Devices Connected to Public Wi-Fi Networks

For computers security packages must include, at a minimum, antivirus and personal firewall capabilities. For smartphones and tablets, use an app designed specifically to secure such devices. And, of course, make sure that the security software is up to date before connecting to public Wi-Fi.

Understand the Difference between True Public Wi-Fi and Shared Wi-Fi

It is critical to understand that not all public Wi-Fi is equally risky. There is usually a much lower risk of being misrouted to phony sites or of malware being delivered to your device if you use the password-protected Guest network of a well-run business whose office you are visiting, for example, than if you use unprotected free Wi-Fi offered by a public library. That does not mean that you should fully trust either network, however; even a well-run company may be hacked, and other guests at the site using the same network as you also pose risks to you.