Laptop PC and WIFI

Hi and welcome to the Forum.

The first thing that you should be aware of is that Microsoft will no longer support Windows 7 after 14 January 2020; so you are facing an ongoing security problem.

That aside - most laptops have wifi built into them; if not, you can check out places like Amazon or E-Bay for an after-market new one; make sure that it's compatible with Windows 7 and has an appropriate USB connection - not all USB connectors are compatible with all USB versions.

Free wifi generally means just that, it's free to connect, many coffee shops and bars offer free wifi, but the unknown will be the quality of the connection, by this I mean, you may be able to download your e-mail and browse the text-based internet, but you may not get a decent video connection for things like movies or video communications.  Also some of the places that offer free-wife place a limit on how long you can connect for, or how much bandwidth you can use.

Hope this helps.

Cynic
Expat Team

Windows 7 is a problem as support is about to be withdrawn.
Even old machines like your will probably have a wifi adaptor built in
You need to be in range of a wifi network - Shopping centres, restaurants and so on commonly have these.
You can by portable mifi units that work from a SIM card but you have to pay for those.
There are also plenty of tablets around, most Android but also some windows, that have SIM card slots. Many of these are cheap and will cover the needs of most people.

"The first thing that you should be aware of is that Microsoft will no longer support Windows 7 after 14 January 2020; so you are facing an ongoing security problem."

That doesnt really bother me. My PC is quick and works well thats the main thing. If it were a slow old XP machine which some newer software wont install on, then I'd be looking for an  upgrade. But I think windows 7 can be made to last until at least 2025 no problem.

You can maybe use it longer, but the point is it isn't longer safe to use anymore.
If your computer can handle it try updating.

Lee4 wrote:

"The first thing that you should be aware of is that Microsoft will no longer support Windows 7 after 14 January 2020; so you are facing an ongoing security problem."

That doesnt really bother me. My PC is quick and works well thats the main thing. If it were a slow old XP machine which some newer software wont install on, then I'd be looking for an  upgrade. But I think windows 7 can be made to last until at least 2025 no problem.

You should realise that it's not only your security at risk; all your friends and contacts on that PC will also be at risk as it could disclose their names, IP addresses, email addresses and perhaps even more; especially as you're talking about connecting via free connections over which any hacker can access your machine.  Perhaps look for a second-hand Macbook, security is not such an issue with those.

It will work, I use a Windows 7 machine as a home server that runs some things around the house and would cost me money to upgrade, but it works just fine and I have no intention of changing anything, but it sits behind my firewall and I'm reasonably happy to carry on using it until something better/cheaper comes along.

I have the windows 7 firewall switched on.

Is Windows 7 security mainly an issue as we're talking about WIFI/wireless, versus not a lined internet connection?

Hi again.

The Windows 7 built-in firewall is software-based and was primarily designed to stop unauthorised inbound input to your PC; once Microsoft stops supporting the operating system, any new hacks developed will probably get past the firewall and back out again.  A 3rd party firewall was always recommended if the user wanted to protect outbound communications.

Security for any computer operating system is always a potential issue, be it wireless or wired; it is normally the case of the developer keeping 1 step ahead of the hackers; in the case of Windows 7, Microsoft isn't going to try any more, it is very much a case of user beware after 20 Jan next year.

My home firewall is hardware based with 3rd party software, so I'm not particularly worried about stuff on my own PC, but as I have friends and family all over the world, I am concerned as to whether the less technically knowledgable members of that group get hacked because of information gleaned from my PC and my desire to save a few quid just because I could.