Using Public Wi-Fi Safely While Travelling

Public Wi-Fi has a bad reputation, and some of it is deserved — but with the right precautions, it’s fine to work from an airport lounge or hotel room.

What’s actually risky

The main risk isn’t someone “hacking” the Wi-Fi itself — it’s two more mundane things:

• Fake hotspots. A network named “Hotel_Guest_WiFi” is easy for anyone to set up, not just the hotel. If you connect to the wrong one, someone else could see your traffic.
• Unencrypted traffic. On an open network, anything not otherwise protected can potentially be seen by others on the same network.

The one thing that fixes both

Use the office VPN. Once connected, your traffic is encrypted end-to-end regardless of how trustworthy the Wi-Fi itself is — see Connecting to the Office VPN or Connecting via the Windows Built-in VPN, whichever applies to your laptop. Connect to the VPN as soon as you join public Wi-Fi, before doing anything else.

Tip

Most sites you use day to day (email, banking, most work apps) are already encrypted on their own (look for a padlock icon and https:// in the address bar), which helps regardless of VPN — but the VPN protects everything, including apps that aren’t as careful.

A few extra habits worth keeping

• Confirm the network name with staff before connecting, rather than picking whichever “Guest WiFi” looks closest to the venue name.
• Turn off file sharing and AirDrop-style discovery while on public networks — Windows will usually prompt “Is this a public network?” the first time you connect; say yes.
• Avoid entering sensitive details (like a full card number for something other than a normal purchase) on any network you’re not confident about, VPN or not — it costs nothing to wait until you’re on a trusted connection.

If in doubt

Use your phone’s mobile hotspot instead of unfamiliar Wi-Fi. It’s slower in some places, but it’s your own private connection rather than a shared one, so it sidesteps the whole issue.