Public Wi-Fi Safety Checklist: What to Do Before You Connect

Public Wi-Fi in a cafe, airport, or hotel is convenient — and it is also a network you do not control. That does not mean you must avoid it entirely. It means taking a few quick precautions before you connect and being careful about what you do while you are on it.

Follow these steps

1. Confirm the real network name. Ask staff for the exact network name if you can, and pick that one from the list. Attackers sometimes set up a lookalike network with a similar name to catch people who connect to the first plausible option.
2. Turn off automatic connection first. In your Wi-Fi settings, turn off auto-join for public networks. That stops your phone or laptop silently reconnecting to a network with the same name somewhere else later.
3. Stick to secure sites. Use sites whose address starts with https, and look for the padlock symbol in the address bar. Secure sites encrypt what you send, which matters most on a network you do not trust.
4. Avoid sensitive accounts while you are on it. Hold off on banking, payment, and other sensitive accounts until you are back on a network you trust. If you must do something sensitive, use your phone's mobile data instead.
5. Keep sharing and discovery off. Turn off file sharing, printer sharing, and device discovery while on public Wi-Fi. You do not want your device advertising itself to everyone else on the same network.
6. Forget the network when you leave. Once you are done, remove the network from your saved networks. That way your device will not reconnect to it — or to a lookalike with the same name — without you choosing to.

If you follow this checklist, public Wi-Fi is fine for browsing, maps, and messages. Save the sensitive stuff for home or mobile data, and you will have enjoyed the convenience without taking the risk.