Whether traveling for business or away for some personal time off, having WiFi at your hotel is something that travellers don’t just need, it’s something they expect. Proof of that comes from a recently published Hotels.com survey that puts free WiFi at the top of the in-room amenities list for global travellers. Whether your destination offers WiFi for free, or you’ve chosen a hotel on HotelChatter’s list of hotels that don’t offer WiFi for free, there are some security measures that you should be taking to make sure your connection is safe and your data doesn’t get intercepted.
- Research what’s on offer before you arrive – or make your booking – If the hotel you’ll be staying at offers WiFi but at a price, knowing this ahead of time will cut down on your frustrations and could even prevent you from connecting to a WiFi network that’s been set up to steal your data. If you’re the know beforehand, you can already make plans to pre-pay when you book, buy on the spot or avoid their WiFi altogether. By putting WiFi at any cost on your list of must-have’s, you may find that your hotel’s WiFi plan is less expensive if you add that amenity to your shopping cart when you make your booking.
If you’re staying at the Emblem Hotel in Prague, a newly-opened boutique hotel, WiFi won’t be an issue as they say their free WiFi, with upload speeds of up to 200 Mbps – is the fastest Internet speed in the world for a hotel. Emblem’s Creative Director, Richard Valtr says, “Travellers shouldn’t have to pay for the Internet anymore because so much of our lives are online. All of us here believe that, at this point, it is pretty much a human right.”
If you’re staying on the other side of the Vitava River, at the Mandarin Oriental Prague, depending on which room you’ve selected, WiFi may be free, or you may have to pay 20 Euros per day or 7 Euros per hour for it. However, if you create a profile on their website, you will enjoy complimentary Internet throughout your stay.
- Ask the front desk for help – With WiFi networks, just because it looks like duck, walks like a duck and sounds like a duck doesn’t mean it’s the real McCoy. Don’tguess the name of your hotel’s WiFi network, ask them what it is. Turn this inquiry into a check-in habit so it becomes routine. Ask what it is, for example, while the front desk attendant is swiping your credit card: while they’re busy doing that, you can pull up the available WiFi networks on your phone, so their confirmation can be verified by the time they hand your credit card back to you.
If you end up in a mixed use area where there are restaurants, businesses and residences, you may be surprised at the vast amount of WiFi networks at your disposal – some locked, others not. Although you may be tempted to piggyback onto an open WiFi network instead of shelling out the daily or hourly usage rate if your hotel is charging for WiFi, by doing so, you may end up falling prey to cybercriminals, eager to swipe your passwords, credit cards and bank accounts while you’re on their network.
- Use a VPN – If you’re travelling for work, chances are you already have a VPN service on your device which allows you to connect to your employer’s servers so you can get access to the information you need to do your job. A VPN (Virtual Private Network) is a software service that creates a secure tunnel between your device and the Internet. Kim Boatman, writing for Your Security Resource, a Norton by Symantec microsite, writes, “In a VPN, your online activity will be encrypted so that the bad guys can’t see what you’re doing.” One VPN service to consider, VPN Shield, gives you the choice of connecting to servers in a variety of countries, and it can be configured to automatically connect whenever an insecure WiFi network is connected, or lets you connect on demand. You can try it for free here.
If WiFi is not an option at your destination, try looking for fast food chains or coffee shops in the neighbourhood where WiFi is offered and make a pit stop between client visits, if you’re there on business, or after a refreshing swim and massage, if you’re there for pleasure!