Public Wi‑Fi and the bank

Free Wi‑Fi is a kindness and a crowd. The café, the bus, the business centre, an estate's “Guest.” You already know not to tick Remember this computer. This lesson is the extra caution: which jobs may use a stranger's radio, and which jobs pay a little data to stay on the SIM. The bank, a password change, a transfer, a BVN portal — the SIM, or the house, or not today.

Joining is the same fan list. The name should match the card on the counter, not “Cafe_Free_Login” with an extra word. A portal page that only asks you to tap Continue is ordinary. A portal that asks for a Google password is not the café; it is a trap wearing a kettle. Close. Use your data. Tell the counter if you like. Do not type the mail key into a page whose address is not the café and not Google.

What you may do, and what you postpone

Read the news. Search a map. Watch a short video if the bundle at home is the problem. Mail, if you must, in a private window, then sign out. Do not tick Stay signed in. Do not open the bank. Do not type a card number. Do not change a password. The radio is shared; a badly run café, or a neighbour, can be nosy. You do not need the science. You need the habit: money stays on a pipe you pay for.

A VPN is a tunnel some people buy. It is not a magic cloak, and a random free VPN is another stall. You do not need one to finish this course. You need the SIM for the bank and the house for the rest. If a form is due tonight and the café is the only light, use the phone's data, even hotspot to the laptop, rather than their fan. You know the spare tyre.

• At a café, join the name on the card. Open cea.ng. That is enough of a test.
• Do not open the bank. If you must pay, switch to mobile data, Wi‑Fi off.
• When you leave: forget the network, or just leave. Sign out of mail if you opened it.
• If a portal asked for your Gmail password, you did not join a café. Change the mail password from a machine you trust.

The business centre

Their machines plus their Wi‑Fi is two crowds. USB your files, do the work, five-minute walk, take the stick. Their bank login is not a thing you should ever do. If they offer to “help you pay,” they are in the password lesson. You type, they point, or you leave.

Public radio is not evil. It is shared. Shared is fine for a newspaper. Shared is not fine for a key. Look at the fan. Name the job. If the job is money, pay for the pipe. The bundle is smaller than a reversal you will not get.