What is a Hotspot?

What is a hotspot? So, that is the topic of this article. A hotspot is an actual location where people can go to access the internet wirelessly with their mobile devices, such as laptops, tablets, or smartphones. And a hotspot could be either public or private. A public hotspot location will be things like a coffee shop. Coffee shops are very common in having a hotspot so that their customers can have internet access using their wireless device. And other common public hotspots would be things like hotels, airports, banking halls, and even airplanes.

But anyway, hotspots are created with a Wi-Fi router or a wireless access point that's connected to an internet service provider. And these routers and access points will broadcast a Wi-Fi signal so that people nearby can connect and access the internet. And you would connect to these hotspots just like you would with any other Wi-Fi network, you would select the network ID or SSID and type in the password if it has one. 

Now some public hotspots are open with no password, and some are secured with a password. So if the hotspot requires a password, you need to find out what it is. And also not all public hotspots are free, there are some that you have to pay for. An example of a private hotspot would be something like your home. Most people who have an internet connection in their home would have a Wi-Fi router that would broadcast a wireless signal so that anyone inside their home such as family and friends would be able to access the internet. And another example of a private hotspot would be tethering, which is created by your smartphone. A lot of times there might be a situation where you're away from your home, and you need your laptop or your tablet to be able to access the internet. And if you're not near a public hotspot, then you can use the convenience of your smartphone to create a hotspot; smartphones get their internet access by using cellular networks. And you can transform your smartphone into a wireless access point. So it can share its internet connection with your other devices. Now most smartphones would have the option of creating a hotspot at the touch of a button. And once the hotspot is turned on, your phone will broadcast a Wi-Fi signal just like a Wi-Fi router or an access point so that nearby devices can connect to its signal and access the internet from the smartphone's cellular network. 

Another method of connecting to the internet is by using a mobile hotspot. A mobile hotspot is a portable device that uses cellular networks to connect wireless devices to the internet. So if there are wireless devices within 30 feet of a mobile hotspot, they can join it and have internet access. Now mobile hotspots come in two different forms. They will either be a freestanding device or as I discussed previously, they can also come as a feature built into your smartphone. So now going back to public hotspots, there are some security concerns when you're dealing with public hotspots because they are in fact public, which means that just about anyone can connect to them. And so you're going to be sharing that connection with other people, which could include hackers. So if you're going to connect to a public hotspot, you should take certain precautions. For example, if you have any folders that are shared, you should turn off folder sharing or at least password protect your shared folders. Another good thing to do is to install an antivirus program. And if you have a firewall make sure the firewall is turned on. And it's also a good idea to install a VPN on your device. A VPN will prevent hackers from stealing your data because it encrypts the data that's being transferred from your device and the internet. So any activity that you do when you're connected to a public hotspot, such as visiting webpages, or transferring files, that data is encrypted and kept private when using a VPN. 

So guys, just remember that a hotspot is an actual physical location. A hotspot is not hardware. A hotspot is not a router or an access point, or your mobile phone or even a mobile hotspot or even a coffee pot that catches on fire for no apparent reason. A hotspot is a location where you can go with your wife.