Public Wi-Fi Safety

Public Wi-Fi is convenient, but it comes with risks that most people either ignore or overreact to. This subcategory focuses on practical, everyday safety: how to use public networks in cafes, hotels, airports, and coworking spaces without turning your life into a security project. The goal is simple: reduce real risk while staying productive. You’ll learn what public Wi-Fi can expose. In many cases, the biggest risks come from untrusted networks, malicious hotspots, and weak device settings like auto-join. Attackers may create lookalike Wi-Fi names, attempt to intercept traffic, or push users toward phishing pages. Modern HTTPS protects a lot, but not everything: DNS manipulation, captive portal trickery, and unsafe behavior (logging into sensitive services on unknown networks without precautions) still matter. The guides help you understand what’s realistic and what’s mostly myth. This section provides practical checklists you can follow quickly. For example: turn off auto-join for unknown networks, confirm the network name with staff, avoid doing sensitive account changes on public Wi-Fi, keep your OS updated, and disable file sharing and AirDrop discovery when you don’t need it. It also covers safe browser habits, two-factor authentication, and why password reuse is still one of the biggest dangers regardless of network type. VPN usage is addressed clearly. A VPN can be useful on public Wi-Fi because it encrypts traffic from your device to the VPN provider, reducing exposure to local network snooping. However, it’s not magic: it shifts trust to the VPN, and it doesn’t protect you from phishing or unsafe downloads. The guides help you decide when a VPN is worth using (often yes on unknown networks) and how to avoid common conflicts like broken captive portals or blocked services. You’ll also learn simple alternatives: using your phone hotspot for sensitive tasks can be safer and more predictable. Hotel and airport Wi-Fi has its own quirks: captive portals, device limits, bandwidth shaping, and weird DNS behavior. The guides cover how to get connected reliably, how to troubleshoot “connected but no internet” situations, and how to protect your devices in shared environments. Public Wi-Fi safety is ultimately about good defaults and habits, not fear. If you want to work, travel, and stay connected without worrying constantly, this subcategory gives you a calm, practical playbook: safer connection choices, simple device hardening, and clear rules for what’s okay to do on public networks.