What is a hotspot? So that is a topic of this video. Now a hotspot is an actual location where people can go to access the internet wirelessly with their mobile device such as a laptop, tablet, or a smartphone.
And a hotspot could be either public or private. A public hotspot location will be things like a coffee shop. Now 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 will be things like hotels, airports, and even on airplanes, or maybe even on a starship? 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. So these were examples of public hotspots.
Now an example of a private hotspot would be something like your home. Now 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.
Now 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. And 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.
There will either be a free-standing device like you see here, or as I discussed previously, they can also come as a feature built into your smartphone. And mobile hotspots are available through cell phone carriers such as Verizon, AT&T, T-mobile, and Sprint. So now going back to public hotspots, now 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. So 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 anti-virus 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, the 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 coffeepot that catches on fire for no apparent reason. A hotspot is a location where you can go with your wireless device to access the internet.
And also if you're interested in getting a VPN, I'll put a link in the description below of this video with a special discount. So thank you everyone for watching, please subscribe and also follow me on Twitter @PowerCert. .
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