What is a Hotspot ?

What is a Hotspot 

 What is a hotspot?  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, 

What is a Hotspot 

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 

What is a Hotspot 

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  .