For example, one that offers 10GB of ‘4G’ data per month. We can perform Windows Updates (all except ‘out of band’ critical) at home, and if we have Windows 10 Pro, there’s an option to defer updates, one reason alone to consider Pro in this situation. 10GB should be sufficient to perform most business/school use with in a month’s time, and if not, many plans simply rolls back to the slower ‘3G’ data, still plenty fast for email checking/transactions.

It’s not safe to even use Linux OS’s on these hotspots for anything other than check the news or weather, because once the data is on the network, it’s out of the secure OS’s hands. While it’s harder to break into a Linux computer, these aren’t bulletproof OS’s, there’s no such thing. The data, once sent, travels through the same highways others OS’s. A VPN won’t help here, because to have the service, one still has to connect to the hotspot.

So the best policy is if one cannot afford a cell based wireless card, then use a smartphone (many are prepaid & has lots of included data), there are low cost ones in the $100 range, though one gets more for another hundred. And as stated above, if one cannot directly tether, there’s a way to make many smartphones operate as a wireless hotspot, an included feature of the device. Just as like home, create a secure passphrase & we’re good to go.

While back in the day, free wi-fi was great, and many, including myself, didn’t pay for Internet service for years. If one doesn’t do any online transactions nor banking, it still may be OK, as long as one has Emsisoft Anti Malware or Internet Security covering our backs. Just be sure to pick your hotspot carefully, for example many public libraries has content filtering on the network, making these a lot cleaner, though one is still open to ‘man in the middle’ attacks, as discussed in the articles.

The bottom line is that no ‘free’ wireless hotspot is as secure as that of a well secured home network. By that, I don’t mean just to plug the router in & set a password, rename your network, create all new passwords, disable remote administration & UP&P (unless needed), make sure that the NAT Firewall is enabled and use guest networking for when family/friends comes over. This password is easily changeable after the guests departs & a good thing to do, don’t let your guest network become another free hotspot, some will park within range & commit illegal activities & the consequences are on the subscriber. Plus it doesn’t cause infections to spread to our computers, having guests on a dedicated network.

Cat