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In a secured, closed wireless network, the data exchange between your device and the access point would be encrypted, so people wouldn’t be able to snoop in. That makes it a lot safer to read your emails, log into your Facebook account, or whatever.

Because of openness of the network, you should avoid connecting to any Web site or service that requires password authentication that is not specifically secured using SSL (the little lock that appears in your browser). This includes email that does not requires an SSL connection, and FTP. You should therefor limit your wireless usage to general Internet surfing.

So how can you make accessing an open network more secure?

• Enable your email client to use SSL, both for incoming and outgoing messages.
• Use SFTP (Secure-FTP) if you need to transfer files. Or encrypt the files before you transfer them.
• If you need to check in on a web-based email account, make sure you connect over SSL/HTTP, not only for the login but for all message exchanges. For example, GMail’s login is over SSL, but the rest of GMail is by default unsecured. Make sure you connect to GMail (or whatever email service) over SSL/HTTPS.
• Don’t do your internet banking on free, open access points, and don’t do your online shopping where you need to provide your credit card details. Although these services should be over a SSL connection, you could be connected to a rogue access points, operated by some unscrupulous people. The access point could act like a man-in-the-middle, intercepting your communication with your banking service.
• But in the end it is strongly advised you can connect to a VPN (Virtual Private Network) connection at a free Wifi hotspot. Using a VPN connection will greatly improve your privacy, as all data is encrypted between you and the VPN server. Actually this improves security on secured access points as well because the security is only between the device and the access point, but from the access point onward it’s open again…

And as always, you may want to take the necessary precautions to secure your computer as well. Make sure your computer is up to date with the latest security fixes, and use an anti-virus and anti-spyware software as well as a software firewall to protect against intrusions. Make sure you don’t have any shared folders, and password-protect access to your computer.

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“Mesh networking is a powerful way to blanket any area with wireless Internet access. In most wireless networks each access point is plugged directly into an Internet connection. But Meraki mesh networks are different. Our repeaters communicate wirelessly with each other, meaning that each repeater can provide Internet access, even without its own direct connection. In fact, in an average Meraki mesh network, only one of every 10 repeaters needs to be physically connected to the Internet. This makes it possible to build a bigger network that’s surprisingly affordable and more reliable.”

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“Wireless community networks or wireless community projects are the organizations that attempt to take a grassroots approach to providing a viable alternative to municipal wireless networks for consumers.”

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