This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.
This post has been written by 5 Minutes for Mom contributor, Teresa. We were compensated to write this post, however all opinions listed are my own.
Now that school has officially begun for my children, I seem to become a recluse again. I’m hiding out in our home classroom, shuffling from one desk to another, explaining word definitions, reading Omnibus and assisting with map work or math problems.
Summer is always much easier for me to work and focus more time on my own schedule. During the school year, I have to set aside specific time pockets on our calendar that is strictly “work time” for mom. If I don’t schedule in work for myself, I don’t get anything completed on time. OR I am staying up entirely way too late in the evening (er, well, really, early AM hours).
When I schedule work time for myself, I load up my laptop and any other work related items and I go to “work” (aka . . . anywhere but my own home) where three small children attempt to wreak havoc on my ‘trying-to-work’ brain.
I usually head to a coffee house or small restaurant and depend on their free wireless networks. My husband always tells me to work quickly in order to save my laptop from a virus or a hacker. I am usually somewhat nervous as I work on a free wireless network, but I have no other choice. Working on a free wireless network means I am opening my computer up to possible issues. I have a pretty good firewall on my laptop, but I still wonder how secure I really am.
Although many public places offer free wireless access that is relatively safely, I now feel much more secure when I work outside of my home in a public place because of my AT&T Unite. Even a legitimate public network is still shared, so it is not as safe as my personal password-protected hotspot. When I am away from home, I can work safely knowing that any emails I send, containing private information, will remain private.
I no longer have to rush through my work and can complete my to-do lists on time and meet my deadlines. I can also get some on-line shopping completed, free of interruptions and free of worry. My AT&T Unite keeps me safe from prying eyes while I am on the go.
Remember to change your settings to the appropriate level of security every time you connect to a public network. Better yet, Get your own AT&T Unite hotspot and never worry again about over sharing private information on a public network.
About the AT&T Unite
The AT&T Unite is a mobile hotspot that offers you wireless internet access on the go. It has 4G capabilities and is very affordable. The unit itself is priced at only .99 with a 2-year contract and only $20 a month, which can be added to your family mobile share plan.
Do you do sensitive web browsing over a Wi-Fi network in a public place?
Mark says
Just to add, another good option to keep safe on public wifi is to use a VPN (Virtual Private Network) software. There are loads of them out there and all data is encrypted and secured through the VPN.
Sadie B. says
We try to stay off out regular accounts on public wifi. This little device looks great for browsing the web while out and about.
Jiro Han says
Id say never ever open your email on airports. Id had this experience that everytime Im at the airport, theres a lot of ips that are trying to connect, sneek in my connection. Im more comfortable using my mobile data than connecting to an undsecured wifi network.