The hackers are much more likely to set up a phony wifi network that looks like a Starbucks or McDonalds but is really their mobile hotspot. They then look for traffic (packet sniffing) that they can easily read, notably web browsing and email. Basically they are looking for low hanging fruit. Any encrypted traffic is going to be far to much trouble to bother with, unless they know you're worth a lot and that you do your banking with SunTrust. Basically, never use e-mail for anything confidential, and be cautious with internet browsing. Using a banking app is far safer than using a banking web page. If you are worth millions you might want to refrain from ever doing finances wirelessly and wait until you are home connected to a wired network. Frankly, hacking the wifi coming from a $2M house strikes me as a more profitable endeavor than posing as a public wifi hoping to get a Paypal password.

The hospital and probably a lot of doctors and dentists have public wifi in their offices. I guess that's where I mostly take my notebook ... waiting, waiting. :)

Although if someone is using their notebook at the pool for reading, they could probably download the desired content before they left home.

On the few occasions when I would like to use wifi away from home, my smartphone is a mobile hotspot. Uses some data, but not really that much. I would just avoid major downloads and actions requiring more security until I got home.

I've been thinking of doing that on an upcoming RV trip. Which phone and carrier are you using? 3G or 4G LTE? I currently have Verizon on a 3G iPhone 4S, and the download speed to the phone is pathetic. If the phone is the weak link, then I would upgrade to an iPhone 5S.

That's the same setup I have, and that's why I only use it when absolutely necessary.

Verizon LTE speed is a lot faster than 3G speed, therefore, using the iPhone 5 or 5S for a hot spot is much more doable. I honestly don't know if the Verizon JetPack would be any faster.

If you have a friend with LTE, have them let you try their hotspot to determine if that speed is sufficient for your temporary needs.

I just performed a test using my iPhone 5 (LTE) as a hot spot for my MacBook Pro

Download speed was on the MacBook Pro was 18Mb/s... Faster than I thought...

The iPhone 5 speed test recorded 25Mb/s, while not being used as a hot spot.

Thanks, I appreciate your report. At home I have 10MB DSL, which is acceptable. I test it occasionally, mostly getting 10 but sometimes only 2-4 MB). My 3G iPhone 4S usually gets 0.5-1 MB. If I could get 10-20 using an iPhone 5 hot spot, I would be delighted. It's probably time to upgrade. That would be better than buying and activating a jetpack just for vacations.

I doubt that any of my friends or neighbors would even know what I'm talking about, no less be using their phone as a hot-spot, but I will ask around.