Public WiFi in Buenos Aires, encryption, and VPN's

There are 5 replies in this Thread which has previously been viewed 2,763 times. The latest Post () was by serafina.

1st Official Post

    Simple explanation of the dangers of using public WiFi:

    https://www.idropnews.com/news…42018&utm_term=Newsletter


    Use of WiFi service in cafes is popular in Buenos Aires, though I believe most cafes have encrypted networks. We have Fibertel in our apartment, and because it is not completely unusual for us to have periods of service interruptions, we have sometimes needed to flee our own dark spot for a cafe. It has occasionally crossed my mind that, though encrypted, these networks should be used judiciously. Are they safe to use?


    This brings me back to the subject of VPN's. Witopia has been recommended to me for use in Latin American countries. Has anyone any thoughts on Witopia or other VPN's, subsequent to our earlier thread on this subject?

    • Official Post

    We have Cablevisión and I have Nord VPN, a paid VPN, but I barely use it because it chokes the bandwidth tremendously. I just activate it when needed. I tried to use ti to watch Hulu but it was painful -- Hulu, Netflix, HBO and all geo-locked content have measures in place to try identify when you are masking your IP to fake you are in the States, so it is the classic cat chasing the mouse situation. Nord VPN continuously find new server to use, server that haven't yet been blocked by those geo-locked content providers, but I spent more time in finding and connecting to those servers, than to watch the actual programs. Not to mention that just pausing the video meant that the connection was paused and so it took another 1-2 minutes of staring at the screen in the hope the VPN connection would be restored.


    Our internet service has been regular so far, but when we first moved here we had to call Cablevisión Service because there was an old filter installed on the cable which was causing issues. If you have irregular service, maybe it's time to call Fibertel Customer Service and have them check out the wiring/filters.