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  • Public wifi

    From Mike Easter@MikeE@ster.invalid to alt.privacy on Wednesday, September 03, 2025 17:08:00
    From Newsgroup: alt.privacy

    I have almost zero experience using public wifi, my few examples have
    been coffee shops, the courthouse, hotels, airplanes & trains.

    A linux software app was recently dev/d by someone who uses public wifi regularly to suit his convenience, and his convenience accordingly
    caused him to dev a tool called freewifid.

    While it seems useful for its purpose, I found myself wondering what the people who frequently use public wifi should be doing for their security
    and privacy concerns.

    One place said they should be using a VPN.

    The linux app and its source are here
    https://codeberg.org/jbb/freewifid

    This is an article at his website/blog https://jbb.ghsq.de/kde/2025/08/29/freewifid.html
    Improving the experience with public Wi-Fi hotspots
    --
    Mike Easter

    --- Synchronet 3.21e-Win32 NewsLink 1.2
  • From The Running Man@running_man@writeable.com to alt.privacy on Thursday, September 04, 2025 11:18:16
    From Newsgroup: alt.privacy

    On 04/09/2025 02:08 Mike Easter <MikeE@ster.invalid> wrote:
    I have almost zero experience using public wifi, my few examples have
    been coffee shops, the courthouse, hotels, airplanes & trains.

    A linux software app was recently dev/d by someone who uses public wifi regularly to suit his convenience, and his convenience accordingly
    caused him to dev a tool called freewifid.

    While it seems useful for its purpose, I found myself wondering what the people who frequently use public wifi should be doing for their security
    and privacy concerns.

    One place said they should be using a VPN.

    The linux app and its source are here
    https://codeberg.org/jbb/freewifid

    This is an article at his website/blog https://jbb.ghsq.de/kde/2025/08/29/freewifid.html
    Improving the experience with public Wi-Fi hotspots


    Free Wifi is mostly moot because almost everyone uses their
    mobile 4G or 5G connection to access the internet.

    Free WiFi often comes with substantial caveats, such as a
    providers where you need to accept their T&C's which allows
    them to identify you and to log and sell your surfing behavior and
    maybe even perform MITM attacks to access your communication
    data.

    I've stopped using free WiFi a long time ago and it will probably
    fade away in a couple of years.
    --- Synchronet 3.21e-Win32 NewsLink 1.2
  • From Mike Easter@MikeE@ster.invalid to alt.privacy on Thursday, September 04, 2025 08:44:56
    From Newsgroup: alt.privacy

    The Running Man wrote:
    Free Wifi is mostly moot because almost everyone uses their
    mobile 4G or 5G connection to access the internet.

    But I don't do that. I normally don't carry a cellphone 'in everyday
    life'. I normally don't use a cellphone at home, favoring cordless
    old-style landline phones connected by VoIP.

    When I travel out of state I take a cellphone and laptop and use public
    wifi and the wifi of my host.
    --
    Mike Easter
    --- Synchronet 3.21e-Win32 NewsLink 1.2
  • From The Running Man@running_man@writeable.com to alt.privacy on Thursday, September 04, 2025 19:29:33
    From Newsgroup: alt.privacy

    On 04/09/2025 17:44 Mike Easter <MikeE@ster.invalid> wrote:
    The Running Man wrote:
    Free Wifi is mostly moot because almost everyone uses their
    mobile 4G or 5G connection to access the internet.

    But I don't do that. I normally don't carry a cellphone 'in everyday
    life'. I normally don't use a cellphone at home, favoring cordless
    old-style landline phones connected by VoIP.

    When I travel out of state I take a cellphone and laptop and use public
    wifi and the wifi of my host.


    In that case a VPN is a must. But most public WiFi providers block these.

    Like they say: "When it's free, you're the product!"


    --- Synchronet 3.21e-Win32 NewsLink 1.2