Traveling with security

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ON SECURITY By Susan Bradley With the past few terrible years behind us, more and more people are beginning to travel again. But modern traveling rais
[See the full post at: Traveling with security]

Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher

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windbg, fisher75, DLivesInTexas

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Susan Bradley wrote:

ON SECURITY By Susan Bradley With the past few terrible years behind us, more and more people are beginning to travel again. But modern traveling rais
[See the full post at: Traveling with security]

It’s a dangerous world out there!

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I travel a lot in the US and some in Canada by RV. I use a VPN when connecting to RV Park WiFi networks on some sites, but don’t use the VPN when streaming entertainment from paid providers.
Do I need to use VPN for streaming videos from Hulu or Netflix?
When a local WiFi connection is not available I use Winegard which uses cellular LTE data thru its SIM card for Internet connection and access is password protected much like a home router.
Do I need to use a VPN with a Winegard cellular Internet connection?

HTH, Dana:))

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Not when you forbid lower connections than G4,

 

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So here’s my philosophy regarding streaming services, first I don’t see it as a privacy/tracking thing – the streaming service ALREADY is tracking you, so any benefit from a VPN is not much.  I see that it often will slow down something that is streaming.

I will use a geo vpn for watching – say BBC Iplayer and it will often buffer it and stop the streaming and I have to start it again.

For pure entertainment needs, I would say skip it.

Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher

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Fred

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Data Service: Don’t forget the eSIMS. They make it just easier to add the local service to your existing phone. When you get off the plane in another Country there will be a line up of firms waiting to sell you one and help you get it installed. You’ll need a new phone to take advantage of this though.

Research: Look for a local travel blogger. I found a great one in New Zealand. We ended up using her blog exclusively for planning the trip. I even emailed her for a tip and she responded immediately!

VPN: They’re usefulness is really overrated. MS Defender has one and it continuously scans what where you’re browsing to and sends that over a VPN. About the only time you’re going to need one is the case Susan mentioned. My home firewall includes one and I keep it loaded on my phone just in case.

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I was asked the following question yesterday:

Someone who lives in the US goes to Canada and brings her daily driver laptop that’s used to access her gmail account. She will have access to secure wireless through a Canadian ISP (not sure how she knows it’s secure, but let’s assume it is). She’s concerned that if/when she tries to log in to her gmail in Canada that she’ll be required to enter a code that gmail sends to her smartphone. Problem is her smartphone is a Tracfone which will not work in Canada. What should she do to ensure she can access her gmail while in Canada?

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Use a VPN and pick a location in the United States.  Trick gmail into thinking she’s still local.

Also set up this geo VPN ahead of time so should any code be needed early on, it will text her then.

Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher

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DrBonzo

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You could use an authenticator app like Authy for verification. The phone doesn’t need to be connected to a service for Authy to work.

cheers, Paul

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DrBonzo

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How does 2-Step Verification work if I don’t have my phone?

If you lose your phone or don’t have it with you, Google can use your recovery email to help you sign in.

Make sure your recovery info is complete and up to date.

Google Account Help

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DrBonzo

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I think her recovery info is complete with phone number and email address. I think the concern is that since the recovery email is a gmail account and her smartphone will not work in Canada, that she could be effectively locked out of gmail while in Canada.

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If you lose your phone or otherwise can’t get codes by text, call, or Google Authenticator, you can use backup codes to sign in to your Google Account.

Sign in with backup codes

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DrBonzo

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Here’s an update on what happened in case it may be useful to others in a similar situation.

On @b’s suggestion we downloaded a set of 10 backup codes. Tested them to make sure they worked by signing out of the gmail account, shutting down the computer, starting the computer, and signing into the gmail account with a code. Probably overkill but better sure than sorry. Before leaving for Canada she signed into her gmail, but quit the browser and shut down the computer without signing out of gmail. After arriving in Canada she started the computer, connected to wifi, opened the browser, clicked on gmail and was was automatically logged in, no code required.

Seems like the key was not signing out of gmail before crossing the border. Anyway no issues with gmail. Turned out that even the tracfone worked for texting, albeit sporadically.

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b

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Susan Bradley wrote:

ON SECURITY By Susan Bradley With the past few terrible years behind us, more and more people are beginning to travel again. But modern traveling rais
[See the full post at: Traveling with security]

oh some people are traveling again BUT EXPECT delays

https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/28/business/air-travel-woes/index.html

https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Travel/new-warning-issued-rebooking-air-travel-after-delays/story?id=101396845

https://www.vox.com/travel/23777457/summer-air-travel-delays-weather-canceled-delayed-flights

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