Good evening all:
I am moving to an apartment complex very soon which offers "free fast wifi". I have spoken to a few residents and this wifi is broadcast to each separate apartment building without a password. Put another way, roughly 24 to 36 residents in a particular apartment building all have unrestricted access to the same network (there are also two hardwired ports in each apartment). While I have an astoundingly limited knowledge of networking and security, I do know that the thought of transmitting sensitive information (login passwords, banking transactions, etc.) over public wifi is quite worrisome.
May I have some advice regarding what to do in this situation to ensure security and privacy over this network? Off the top of my head, I was toying with the idea of purchasing a personal router through which I could set up a VPN. I will be attending medical school and being able to securely transmit data (powerpoints, emails, financials, sensitive clinical information, etc.) between my cell phone, tablet, laptop, and desktop is highly attractive.
If you were in my situation, how would you approach this problem. Any explanation is appreciated, especially one basic enough for me to understand. Additionally, any advice regarding privacy/security/hardware set up beyond this networking issue would be quite welcomed.
Thank you!
Matt
I am moving to an apartment complex very soon which offers "free fast wifi". I have spoken to a few residents and this wifi is broadcast to each separate apartment building without a password. Put another way, roughly 24 to 36 residents in a particular apartment building all have unrestricted access to the same network (there are also two hardwired ports in each apartment). While I have an astoundingly limited knowledge of networking and security, I do know that the thought of transmitting sensitive information (login passwords, banking transactions, etc.) over public wifi is quite worrisome.
May I have some advice regarding what to do in this situation to ensure security and privacy over this network? Off the top of my head, I was toying with the idea of purchasing a personal router through which I could set up a VPN. I will be attending medical school and being able to securely transmit data (powerpoints, emails, financials, sensitive clinical information, etc.) between my cell phone, tablet, laptop, and desktop is highly attractive.
If you were in my situation, how would you approach this problem. Any explanation is appreciated, especially one basic enough for me to understand. Additionally, any advice regarding privacy/security/hardware set up beyond this networking issue would be quite welcomed.
Thank you!
Matt
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