Secure Internet

Shakerag Diva · Nov 8, 2016

We are newbies and just got back from our maiden voyage. It was fantastic!

We plan to go out a lot and could possibly be gone several weeks at a time. How do you handle getting a secure wireless signal? We were at a campground this weekend and they offered Internet. I know that wasn't secure as we did not have to enter a password. We do have satellite service on our phones, but trying to navigate paying bills with those little buttons and these big fingers is not easy. I know we will not always have wifi aa it depends where we stay.

How to the seasoned RV'ers do it?

Gary RV_Wizard · Nov 8, 2016

The password just gives you access to the wifi network. Doesn't really make it any more secure, since anybody else on the network can still see the traffic with the right equipment. It's still "public", just a smaller audience. As long as the sites you access are secure (have "https" on the front of the URL), you have end-to-end security for your data.

In incidence of pros hacking into a campground networks is about zero. There are much richer targets available to justify the time & effort. The house wifi at a swank hotel or a cafe near a financial district may be a different story (richer targets attract the thieves), but few campgrounds qualify.

Rene T · Nov 8, 2016

Gary RV Roamer said:
As long as the sites you access are secure (have "https" on the front of the URL), you have end-to-end security for your data.

Gary, does the "s" next to http signify secure? I'm staying at a CG now and "http" does not have an "s" at the end.

Tom · Nov 8, 2016

Rene, the "S" signifies that the data is encrypted, so yes it's secure (within limitations). One of many explanations of http v https.

SeilerBird · Nov 8, 2016

Rene T said:
Gary, does the "s" next to http signify secure? I'm staying at a CG now and "http" does not have an "s" at the end.

Rene - You only worry about the S if you are logging onto a financial site.

Alaskansnowbirds · Nov 8, 2016

Buy one of these...

https://www.amazon.com/SharePort-Go-DIR506L-By-D-Link/dp/B009KBHRKQ/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1478635032&sr=8-2&keywords=D+Link+dir506l

It connects to the campground wifi then you connect to it. That way you're behind the router's firewall. That keeps other people on the campground wifi from seeing your computer. Also, if you have more than one computer or tablet, they can all connect to this router.

I agree with Gary though, "In incidence of pros hacking into a campground networks is about zero."

That being said, if you are doing anything financial, make sure that you're connected to a HTTPS connection.

legrandnormand · Nov 8, 2016

Shakerag Diva said:
We are newbies and just got back from our maiden voyage. It was fantastic!

We plan to go out a lot and could possibly be gone several weeks at a time. How do you handle getting a secure wireless signal? We were at a campground this weekend and they offered Internet. I know that wasn't secure as we did not have to enter a password. We do have satellite service on our phones, but trying to navigate paying bills with those little buttons and these big fingers is not easy. I know we will not always have wifi aa it depends where we stay.

How to the seasoned RV'ers do it?

Why don't you use your satellite phone service as a "hotspot" and put a password to access it from your laptop or tablet.

HappyWanderer · Nov 8, 2016

SeilerBird said:
Rene - You only worry about the S if you are logging onto a financial site.

Really? Personal Information (PI) is contained on all of your accounts, not just financial.

legrandnormand · Nov 8, 2016

HappyWanderer said:
Really? Personal Information (PI) is contained on all of your accounts, not just financial.

If you are that concerned about your "Personnal Information" , what are you doing being here, this is a wide open public forum, not secured at all...

SeilerBird · Nov 8, 2016

HappyWanderer said:
Really? Personal Information (PI) is contained on all of your accounts, not just financial.

I could give a crap less about any personal information found with my non-financial accounts. Much of it is lies.

ArdraF · Nov 8, 2016

Why don't you use your satellite phone service as a "hotspot"

I think you meant to say cell phone service. Very few of us have satellite phone service because it's very expensive. We use our Verizon cell phone as a hotspot with our two laptops and it works great. We also use MailWasherPro for checking our emails on "their" server before allowing it to come into "our" computers. We seldom use a campground wifi.

ArdraF

HappyWanderer · Nov 8, 2016

legrandnormand said:
If you are that concerned about your "Personnal Information" , what are you doing being here, this is a wide open public forum, not secured at all...

Via a secure connection with a user name and password not used anywhere else. My phone and tablet are set to not search for available networks, and I never use public wifi. I'm not concerned at all.

8Muddypaws · Nov 8, 2016

Alaskansnowbirds said:
Buy one of these...

https://www.amazon.com/SharePort-Go-DIR506L-By-D-Link/dp/B009KBHRKQ/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1478635032&sr=8-2&keywords=D+Link+dir506l

It connects to the campground wifi then you connect to it. That way you're behind the router's firewall. That keeps other people on the campground wifi from seeing your computer. Also, if you have more than one computer or tablet, they can all connect to this router.

I agree with Gary though, "In incidence of pros hacking into a campground networks is about zero."

That being said, if you are doing anything financial, make sure that you're connected to a HTTPS connection.

This will accomplish nothing except giving you a false sense of security. The traffic between your local router and the campgrounds wifi is still unencrypted.

If you want to be 99.99999% secure the best choice is a Virtual Private Network, or VPN. I use IPVanish and it works pretty reliably. There is a yearly charge for it. There are free VPN services but they tend to be not as fast or reliable.

John From Detroit · Nov 8, 2016

Yes personal info is all over, For example my Facebook Profile.. Good luck using it though... I LIED.

And if you have to ask why you are reading the WRONG thread.

Seriously unless you first secure your computer and practice safe hex. It does not much matter. Hardly a day goes by where I do not get some... shall we say... Very "Inviting" E-mails.. Mostly in my SPAM folder but some show up in the inbox... Very Inviting indeed..

Only I"m not into sexual transmitted diseases Be they Digital or biological.

legrandnormand · Nov 8, 2016

ArdraF said:
I think you meant to say cell phone service. Very few of us have satellite phone service because it's very expensive. We use our Verizon cell phone as a hotspot with our two laptops and it works great. We also use MailWasherPro for checking our emails on "their" server before allowing it to come into "our" computers. We seldom use a campground wifi.

ArdraF

Reread the original post... he mentioned "satellite phones "

legrandnormand · Nov 8, 2016

8Muddypaws said:
This will accomplish nothing except giving you a false sense of security. The traffic between your local router and the campgrounds wifi is still unencrypted.

If you want to be 99.99999% secure the best choice is a Virtual Private Network, or VPN. I use IPVanish and it works pretty reliably. There is a yearly charge for it. There are free VPN services but they tend to be not as fast or reliable.

If you'd use Opera as a browser, you could get VPN and it does work perfectly.

spacenorman · Dec 28, 2016

Tom said:
Rene, the "S" signifies that the data is encrypted, so yes it's secure (within limitations). One of many explanations of http v https.

Both HTTP and HTTPS are "end point" protocols - controlled entirely by the two end point devices involved in a given conversation. It has absolutely nothing to do with the network transport (i.e., the campground's WIFI network). If you are connecting with a URL hosted on a server that is configured to use HTTPS - you'll automatically get an HTTPS connection over the very campground WIFI network that you're currently on. The reason that you're seeing HTTP now and not an HTTPS connection is because the web site you're hitting isn't using HTTPS. Use of HTTPS comes with a "performance price" since data is being encrypted (which consumes processor resources and time) - web site designers have traditionally been judicious with their use of HTTPS vs HTTP. Pages that contain no personal data, financial information, etc. - often use plain, unencrypted HTTP. The minute you access a page with personal data, financial information, etc. - you'll the URL in your browser window "automagically" indicate that it's a "secure" connection using HTTPS.

PopPop51 · Dec 28, 2016

There's a growing movement to use https as the default protocol, with sites of all kinds increasingly supporting only https. With ever-increasing processing power and bit rates, the performance penalty is so minor as to be unnoticeable.
This is pretty universally accepted as a Good Thing.
But it's possible for a server to dilute the effectiveness of being https-only if it allows http requests on port 80 then redirects them to the https port. That's less secure because the initial request from the user is still sent unencrypted. Only after the redirected connection has been made is the rest of the session secure. The most secure way to go https-only is to block port 80 entirely, preventing the insecure connection from being made in the first place. The downside of this is confusion and irritated users.

John From Detroit · Dec 28, 2016

Port 80 is also used for some things where encryption is clearly not needed, I mean.. As an example.. If I want to get the internet to give me the time of day? Do I really need to encrypt that.. I mean the time of day is on my watch (Currently 12:16 and seconds) and my watch is if anything more accurate than the internet.

PopPop51 · Dec 28, 2016

John From Detroit said:
Port 80 is also used for some things where encryption is clearly not needed, I mean.. As an example.. If I want to get the internet to give me the time of day? Do I really need to encrypt that.. I mean the time of day is on my watch (Currently 12:16 and seconds) and my watch is if anything more accurate than the internet.

I think it's a half-full/half empty type of question. Sure, there's no imperative to encrypt a simple, anonymous time request, but for such a request the penalty is so small and, as you say, the accuracy is so poor that there's no reason not to encrypt the session, either.
Today https only exacts a significant penalty on very large request/response bodies, and if you're transporting large files there are much more efficient and secure protocols than http or https.
Don't get me wrong, I'm about as far from being a tin-foil hat wearer as you can get. But https just strikes me as a no-downside option nowadays.

Secure Internet

Member

Site Team

Site Team

Administrator

Well-known member

Site Team

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Forum statistics