VPN USE ONE?

[NY_Yankees_Fan]

We are snowbirds in Florida staying in hotels for the next 3 months and do not want to pay the monthly bills while on a public hotel network. If I use my iPhone using cell vs wifi is that better/less of exposure? Anyone have a good experience with using a VPN when on a public network? I did a search and came up with many companies not sure which one is the best to use, easy to set up Etc.

 

[davesl708]

Most hotels are not secure sites. Check with the desk and ask about the network security. If good go with wifi with security running on your phone.

 

[s219]

VPN is generally used to get you in to a remote network, encrypting all traffic. So you sort of need a network to VPN "into". For instance, I VPN into my work network from home, and then it's just like I am sitting onsite at work.

I'd suggest checking all your billing websites. If they have https:// (not http://) URLs, then all traffic to/from their site is encrypted. Won't matter if on a public or private network, or VPN'ed into another network -- anything going between your web browser and their website will be encrypted.

 

[Sean Kyle]

I completely agree that Public Wifis of anywhere are not safe and VPNs are definitely the best way out to keep yourself secure online apart from other things that can be achieved using VPN. If you want recommendations, then the foremost would be to choose a paid one (free ones sell your connection or data in one way or the other) and always go for a good and established VPN service. To name a few, ExpressVPN, IP Vanish (used both in the past), and PureVPN (currently using it) are good to check out. Hope it will help you

 

[wcampbell47]

We are snowbirds in Florida staying in hotels for the next 3 months and do not want to pay the monthly bills while on a public hotel network. If I use my iPhone using cell vs wifi is that better/less of exposure? Anyone have a good experience with using a VPN when on a public network? I did a search and came up with many companies not sure which one is the best to use, easy to set up Etc.

It has been a while since I retired from IT, however based on my experience a Virtual Private Network client was normally installed on a laptop that was going to be used to connect to a company secure network to work on files on that network. The VPN protocols were added to the stack of protocols that run the network card.

As far a using the iPhone as a hotspot my wife has been successful with that for a computer in her small retail shop. So far I have not noticed a big jump in data useage. If you have a good signal try that for just browsing or checking gmail.