how to use free wifi in ports

We've never used our phones in ports or airports outside of US. Always put them on airplane mode and shut data roaming and leave it like that.

However, I see many people using it at caribbean ports and would like to do so.

Do I just take off airplane mode/data roaming and then hit wifi to get the local wifi spot? I'm afraid that in between taking it off and putting it on local wifi messages, email etc will come in over non-wifi and we'll get stuck w/big bill.

Advice appreciated.

Thanks

I can only speak for my iPhone

but with the phone in AIRPLANE mode, I can individually turn on WIFI thus keeping all cellular access OFF

recommendation ... find a teenager to demonstrate

I can only speak for my iPhone

 

but with the phone in AIRPLANE mode, I can individually turn on WIFI thus keeping all cellular access OFF

 

recommendation ... find a teenager to demonstrate

Agree. Data off or on is separate from wifi on or off. Just spent 2 weeks in Europe with airplane mode on,,and wifi on. No problem. This was on an Android (Samsung Galaxy S6).

Yes, you can get a teenager to demonstrate. Or you can try it yourself at home, or at any free wifi place near your home, like McDonald's or Starbuck.

My advice?

Never use free wifi unless you know for 100% who you are connecting to.

Example:

You turn on Wifi on your phone

There are 2 access points

Starbucks

Starbucksfreeaccess

One of these will give you free access with no problems

The other one, I created. Once you connect, you will have internet access. I will also have access to everything on your phone to download, save, and clone to include passwords, iTunes accounts, credit card info, medical info, calendar, etc.

I travel with my own secure mifi hotspot.

May I heartily suggest that you have a VPN service put onto your phone, you subscribe, and you use it whenever you are on "public" wifi.

It is very easy to have your data and information compromised with these "free wifi" locations. A VPN will set up a secure tunnel between your device and the VPN server locations.

I personally am quite happy with the performance, service and variety of servers available through Private Internet Access. There are many others out there - do your research on both the companies and how VPN works and why it is necessary.

One note....do NOT use your VPN in the UAE, where they are outlawed. Fines can run as high as $545,000 plus possible jail time.

My advice?

Never use free wifi unless you know for 100% who you are connecting to.

 

Example:

You turn on Wifi on your phone

There are 2 access points

Starbucks

Starbucksfreeaccess

 

One of these will give you free access with no problems

The other one, I created. Once you connect, you will have internet access. I will also have access to everything on your phone to download, save, and clone to include passwords, iTunes accounts, credit card info, medical info, calendar, etc.

 

I travel with my own secure mifi hotspot.

This is good advice. In addition, you can use your hotel wifi, which should be identified, and requires room number and name to access, typically. That will enhance your safety.

I do almost nothing truly secure on my phone or tablet, no banking or anything like that. Probably the most secure think I do is use electronic boarding passes on my phone.

We have a Toshiba laptop and use it for free wifi and that way we don't load personal stuff on it just use it for maps, restaurants etc.

One solution is to simply switch your phone service to T-Mobile. You can use them just about everywhere in Europe, Mexico, Canada and the Caribbean for no extra charge (for data).

Hank

On our last trip to EU I turned on International access thru my Verizon account

this gave me access to T-Mobile in EU which DID appear to be the most prevalent provider .... (they were the cooperating company)

over there . . . .

here in the US, everyone I know that went t-m went looking for a new provider as soon as their contract ran out .....

just sayin . . .

Bruce, KLFrodo....highly suggest the VPN. Very secure - I use it for all public wifi situations, even in hotels with their own server. Thus, I don't worry about transactions that are in the tunnel. I have my devices to use for all purposes, so I am not adrift while out of the country.

A mifi unit is only a front-end to existing cellular service. Unless you have roaming (and the associated costs) or are in your home territory, I don't see mifi as an alternative as it merely connects your device to the cellular network. For a phone, that's redundancy and overhead.

With a VPN, whether through cellular or wifi, all of your data in and out will be encrypted and then routed through the VPN servers.

May I heartily suggest that you have a VPN service put onto your phone, you subscribe, and you use it whenever you are on "public" wifi.

 

It is very easy to have your data and information compromised with these "free wifi" locations. A VPN will set up a secure tunnel between your device and the VPN server locations.

 

I personally am quite happy with the performance, service and variety of servers available through Private Internet Access. There are many others out there - do your research on both the companies and how VPN works and why it is necessary.

 

One note....do NOT use your VPN in the UAE, where they are outlawed. Fines can run as high as $545,000 plus possible jail time.

This bit about the UAE seemed pretty unlikely to me, as VPNs are crucial for many kinds of business, so I googled it.

I get the sense some UK news outlets took the info WAY out of context for clickbait purposes.

http://gulfnews.com/news/uae/crime/using-vpns-what-uae-residents-need-to-know-1.1872123

On our last trip to EU I turned on International access thru my Verizon account

 

this gave me access to T-Mobile in EU which DID appear to be the most prevalent provider .... (they were the cooperating company)

 

over there . . . .

 

here in the US, everyone I know that went t-m went looking for a new provider as soon as their contract ran out .....

 

just sayin . . .

I've had T-Mo since it was Voicestream... No problems on my end. My ATT on my iPad is another story - when the contract is up, it's moving to T-Mo, too...It all has to do with location, I think.

I have yet to take my iPhone to Europe, it's just been my iPad. I just buy a SIM for it and off I go. When I go out of the country next time, the iPhone will go with me (maybe nothing different on my iPad vs iPhone except phone calls and I can Skype/FaceTime). I will most likely install some VPN software on it.

I've had T-Mo since it was Voicestream... No problems on my end. My ATT on my iPad is another story - when the contract is up, it's moving to T-Mo, too...It all has to do with location, I think.

 

I have yet to take my iPhone to Europe, it's just been my iPad. I just buy a SIM for it and off I go. When I go out of the country next time, the iPhone will go with me (maybe nothing different on my iPad vs iPhone except phone calls and I can Skype/FaceTime). I will most likely install some VPN software on it.

We simply turn on the Hotspot option with our T-Mobile account. Then, all our other devices (iPads and PCs) can use the fast hotspot WiFi (often LTE). This T-mobile thing started (with us) last spring when we befriended several crew members on an 8 week HAL cruise. They told us that many of the crew used T-Mobile because "it just works everywhere." While cruising in Europe we just turned our iPhone on whenever we were within about 15 miles of land and we usually got at least 3 bars. While others were struggling with HAL onboard WiFi (at about 50 cents a min) that did not work (or worked at a snails pace) our Hotspot provided very fast WiFi on 2 of our devices (at the same time). Total cost for using T-Mobile for several weeks throughout Europe was less then $10 extra dollars (they do charge 20 cents a min for phone calls in Europe...but data was our normal plan (free)).

Hank

This bit about the UAE seemed pretty unlikely to me, as VPNs are crucial for many kinds of business, so I googled it.

 

I get the sense some UK news outlets took the info WAY out of context for clickbait purposes.

 

http://gulfnews.com/news/uae/crime/using-vpns-what-uae-residents-need-to-know-1.1872123

Well, it's against the law to bring certain OTC medications into the UAE, yet some people on CC think that's OK. The VPN law may or may not be enforced against the casual tourist, but I like to ask myself the question:

Do I want to run the risk of being jailed and processed through the legal system of an Arabic country that doesn't have the western set of personal protections?

Take it from there and do your own risk/reward assessment. Or to quote Harry...."Do you feel lucky?"

I can only speak for my iPhone

 

but with the phone in AIRPLANE mode, I can individually turn on WIFI thus keeping all cellular access OFF

 

recommendation ... find a teenager to demonstrate

Yep, every phone I've used.

Well, it's against the law to bring certain OTC medications into the UAE, yet some people on CC think that's OK. The VPN law may or may not be enforced against the casual tourist, but I like to ask myself the question:

 

Do I want to run the risk of being jailed and processed through the legal system of an Arabic country that doesn't have the western set of personal protections?

 

Take it from there and do your own risk/reward assessment. Or to quote Harry...."Do you feel lucky?"

Yes, I did my own risk assessment by actually reading about the law itself (it refers to VPN use for ILLEGAL purposes) rather than the panic-journalism stories that are banking on people's fear of being imprisoned in a foreign country. :)