5 Best VPNs for WiFi Hotspots

Over the years, there has been an explosion in the number of public WiFi hotspots. From coffee houses, restaurants, cafes, hospitals, libraries, book stores, hotels, airports, and any other retail outlet, you will find access to free internet via public WiFi hotspots.

According to ABI Research, the number of WiFi hotspots all over the world was 4.3 million in 2013 and this number was expected to reach 7.1 million by the end of 2015. Since these free access points are available openly everywhere, you should know that there are various dangers attached in using public WiFi hotspots.

These WiFi hotspots don’t encrypt your internet traffic, which makes them highly unsafe to use. So how to do you stay safe over WiFi hotspots? The answer – use a VPN for WiFi hotpots.

Best VPNs for WiFi Hotspots

There are various VPN services that you can use to stay protected over open WiFi hotspots. To help you select, we have gathered some of the best WiFi VPNs you can use. They will help to encrypt all your internet traffic and keep you anonymous as you use open WiFi networks.

Risk of Using Public WiFi Hotspots

One of the many benefits of using public WiFi hotspots is that they are open for access; anyone can get connected to the network. With that being said, this is also the major drawback of open internet networks.

Since it does not requires any authentication to establish a connection, public WiFi hotspots are a haven for various cyber criminals. Hackers, spammers, phishes, snoopers, and other alike can gain access to all unsecure devices that are connected over such open WiFi networks.

From there they can retrieve unholy amount of information about you. Your personal data, credit card details, corporate data, and other sensitive information can be retrieved by these cyber criminals. This is where using a VPN for WiFi hotpots comes in handy as it will protect against these dangers.

Facts about Using Unsecure WiFi Networks

To back our claims about the different risks that are inherent in using public WiFi hotspots, here are some factual evidences.

Firstly, the usual suspects are those that are promoted to use WiFi in the first place. According to a survey conducted by Public WiFi, majority of the users connect to public WiFi to use social media or check their personal emails. This leaves them exposed to all kinds of risks as they fall prey to hackers and other cyber-goons.

Similarly, the most reported crime that is committed over unsecure WiFi networks is of identity theft. A research completed by Javelin Strategy showed that there were 13.1 million identity fraud victims in 2013 when they used public Wi-Fi’s.

The loss of precious information over pubic WiFi hotpots has impacted Federal workers the most. Mobile Work Exchange and Cisco conducted a survey in 2014 and found that 31% of federal workers were reported to have put themselves and their agencies at risk by using public WiFi’s.

Government Agencies Recommending WiFi VPNs   

With all the factual evidence right in front of you, there are numerous people that have not taken any precaution to protect their privacy and sensitive data over public WiFi hotspots. It is highly important that you secure your devices before you connect to any open internet connection.

The best solution for this is to use a WiFi VPN service. The way it encrypts your internet traffic using protocols and encryption levels, and the way it hides your real identity, a WiFi VPN is your best ally when defending against cyber criminals.

If you are still not convinced, check out this recommendation by FBI for using VPN over WiFi:

Here is the Department of Justice, Department of Homeland Security, and Federal Trade Commission also recommending the use of WiFi VPN connections:

Conclusion

To sum everything up, public WiFi hotspots are highly unsecure and unsafe to use for anyone. With numerous cyber criminals lurking around over the network to steal precious information about you, we recommend that you use a VPN for WiFi.

Our list of best WiFi VPN highlights different services that are compatible on all major devices and operating systems. This means that you can secure all your handheld devices and keep your data safe while using open WiFi hotspots.

The use of WiFi hotspot VPN is also emphasized by different governmental agencies from US and Europe. Even the stats show the dangers that are present when you connect to public WiFi. Therefore, use a VPN for public WiFi before it costs you in the long run.