Use a VPN on Your Disney Trip

Posted 3 weeks ago by Pluto's Planners

A TRIP THAT RUNS ON SOMEONE ELSE’S WI-FI

Count the networks on a typical Disney trip. The airport while you wait to board. The plane, if you buy the in-flight Wi-Fi. The resort, where the Wi-Fi reaches your room. The parks, where Disney offers free Wi-Fi in most public areas so you can use the My Disney Experience app without burning through your data. Then a coffee shop or a restaurant at Disney Springs, and the airport again on the way home.

That is a week of joining networks you don’t control, shared with thousands of strangers, often while you check a bank balance, book a dining reservation or pay for something.

A VPN is an inexpensive, set-it-and-forget-it way to make every one of those networks safer to use. Here is what it does, what it doesn’t, and how to have it running before you leave.

HOW RISKY IS PUBLIC WI-FI, REALLY?

Less risky than it used to be, and it is worth being straight about that. Most websites and apps now encrypt what you send them. The FTC says that because encryption is so widespread, connecting through public Wi-Fi is usually safe. If you see a lock symbol or “https” in the address bar, what you send that site is encrypted.

“Usually” is doing some work in that sentence, though. The NSA’s guidance on public Wi-Fi lists the risks that remain:

  • Someone on the same network can capture traffic that isn’t encrypted, using free, open-source tools.
  • An attacker can set up a fake network with a convincing name, known as an evil twin, and wait for people to join it.
  • A network that asks for a password still may not encrypt the traffic going over it.

Those tricks work best where lots of people are joining free Wi-Fi at once, and a Disney trip is a week of exactly those places.

WHAT A VPN DOES

A VPN, or virtual private network, creates an encrypted tunnel between your device and the VPN company’s servers. Your traffic goes through that tunnel before it reaches the rest of the internet. In the FTC’s words, anyone monitoring your Wi-Fi connection only sees gibberish.

On a trip, that means:

  • The network you’re on, whether it’s the airport’s, the hotel’s or a fake one, can’t read what you send.
  • Apps that don’t encrypt everything are covered too, because all of your traffic goes through the tunnel.
  • You don’t have to judge every network. Turn the VPN on and every network gets the same protection.

The NSA’s advice lines up: if you have to use public Wi-Fi, use a VPN to encrypt the traffic.

WHAT A VPN DOESN’T DO

A VPN is one layer of protection, not a force field. It won’t:

  • Protect you from a fake website. If you type your password into a scam site, the VPN delivers it there securely. The FTC warns that scammers encrypt fake sites so they look safe.
  • Make you anonymous. The FTC points out that a VPN shifts your trust from the Wi-Fi network to the VPN company, which is now the one carrying your traffic. That is why the choice of VPN matters.
  • Replace the basics. Keep your phone’s software updated, use strong passwords and turn on two-factor authentication wherever it’s offered. The FTC recommends all three.

CHOOSING A VPN

Not every VPN is worth installing. The FTC cites a study of nearly 300 VPN apps that found some didn’t use encryption, some asked for sensitive permissions they didn’t need, and some shared data with third parties. Free VPNs deserve the most caution: the FTC notes that many are free because they sell advertising inside the app.

Before you pick one, check that:

  • It encrypts all of your traffic. Look for outside reviews that confirm it, since an app’s own promises aren’t proof.
  • Its privacy policy says what it collects and whether it shares or sells it.
  • The permissions it asks for make sense. A VPN has no reason to read your text messages.
  • It runs on every device you’re bringing: phones, tablets, and a laptop if one is coming.
  • One account covers enough devices for the whole family. Check the device limit before you buy.

BEFORE THE TRIP: SET IT UP IN FIVE STEPS

  1. Pick a VPN and sign up at home, a week or two before you leave, not at the gate.
  2. Install the app on every phone, tablet and laptop that is coming along, and sign in.
  3. Turn on automatic connection for public Wi-Fi, if your VPN has the setting. The name varies by app.
  4. Stop your phone joining networks on its own. Turn off auto-join for public networks in your Wi-Fi settings, so your phone only connects to networks you pick. The NSA recommends disabling auto-connect.
  5. Test it at home. Turn the VPN on and open the sites and apps you’ll use on the trip, including My Disney Experience, to make sure they load.

Then add one line to your packing list: VPN installed and tested. It sits nicely next to the other set-it-up-at-home job, backing up your photos.

DURING THE TRIP

  • Join the right network. At Walt Disney World, Disney’s instructions say to select the Walt Disney World Resort network. At Disneyland Resort it’s Disney-Guest in the parks and Downtown Disney District, and Disneyland Resort Hotels Wi-Fi in the hotels. Skip any network with a similar but slightly different name.
  • Get past the sign-in page first. Many hotel, airport and in-flight networks show a sign-in or terms page before they let you online. Accept it, then turn the VPN on.
  • Leave it on. The VPN only protects what goes through it.
  • Use cellular data for the important stuff when you can. The NSA’s first choice is your own hotspot over public Wi-Fi. If your phone plan has the data, doing your banking over cellular avoids the question entirely.
  • If something won’t load with the VPN on, try a different server location in the VPN app first. If you do switch the VPN off, hold off on logging in to anything important until it’s back on.

THE SHORT VERSION

Public Wi-Fi is safer than it was, mostly because of encryption. A VPN closes the gaps that are left and covers every network on the trip with one switch. Set it up at home, test it, and let it run.

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