Aug 13 2012
Is it Safe to Use My Phone to Connect to Public Wi-Fi Hotspots?

No one wants any issues or unwanted viruses on their devices so the question must be asked; are free Wi-Fi hot spots safe? They can certainly be a fantastic money saver and, with a few precautions, can be as safe as they can be as well.

As technology becomes more advanced, necessary and useful, so does the requirement to be connected to the internet. Smartphones can do so much for the user, with thousands of apps available the possibilities are never ending, but in order to be able to take full advantage of what you have got, you need an internet connection! Being cut off from the virtual world cannot happen in these hectic days and so the ways in which you can keep connected are more available than ever before.

Everyone is talking about Wi-Fi hot spots right now and that is because they are popping up all over the place! This means that when you pop for a coffee, go out for a drink, or head out to do the food shopping; you can be connectedas you go for those all-important notifications or to check on your emails.

The days of today are all go and never seem to slow down. Unless you connectto these hot spots you will find that this lifestyle comes with a huge price tag. Your phones data usage won’t go far and you can easily end up with a massive bill to show for it. This is why you need to find out about, and take advantage of, these WiFi hotspots. They are now enabling people to move around cities without ever paying any data charges because the hot spots can roll into each other! This gives you an idea of how readily available they really are. You can get great broadband deals from https://www.simonly-deals.com/but everyhot spot you use can save you even more money on top.

Free Wi-Fi has been around in some places for a while and is something that can sway a user to go to one place as opposed to another. They are easy to find as well; all you have to do is look online and you will find blogs, forums and websites aplenty that will tell you where you can find them. There are even apps that can map them out for your using GPS so you can be sure to stay connected anywhere you go!

Free Wi-Fi is fantastic and even more so if you are travelling abroad. Data charges abroad can send your bill into the hundreds so finding these hot spotswhilst you’re away or on holiday is extremely beneficial. You can even place free calls over the internet using Skype so you can save on extra call charges while you are there as well. Then, add those points to the fact that you can use free messaging services such as Blackberry Messenger, the iMessage app, and WhatsApp; you can pretty much do anything and pay nothing.

So, now we know that hot spots are a great money saving tool; are they safe? How secure is free Wi-Fi? There are always going to be some risks with publicconnections, but there are precautions that you can take. The best thing you can do is implement them as it’s better to be safe than sorry.

Try to stick to connections that require a password. If the network is open source there will be a lot more risks, finding those hot spots that prompt a password should mean that the connection is more secure straight off.

Don’t use hot spots for sensitive content. Don’t do your online shopping unless you are paying with a secure checkout that doesn’t require you to enter any details, like Paypal.

Type HTTPS before the web address where you can. This way you are more likely to be visiting a secure site with SSL encryption.

If you need to do something, like use your online banking, then switch off theWi-Fi and use your own data. This type of risk just isn’t worth it.

Use an anti-virus programme – this can be useful regardless of your device.

Keep these things in mind and you shouldn’t find any issues using public Wi-Fihot spots. The precautions are on-offs in some cases, like downloading an anti-virus programme, so you won’t have to do these things every single time. Save money and stay secure…

Author Bio

Emily is a freelance writer based in North Wales. A keen reader, and inspired by the authors of fiction, Emily is an up and coming author. When not writing professionally about https://www.simonly-deals.com/; you’ll usually find Emily spending time with her partner and niece, if not reading or writing her book.

 

 

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