Campus Wi-Fi and a VPN

Halls, libraries, and lecture theatres share a network among a lot of devices. On that network, unencrypted traffic can be read by anyone in a position to watch it. A lookalike hotspot with a similar name is a separate problem: you join the wrong network before the VPN even starts.

A VPN encrypts traffic from your device to the VPN server. Sign-in pages, mail, and banking then travel inside that tunnel. The university can still see that you connected to the VPN. It cannot read the pages inside it.

The VPN does not:

• Stop you typing a password into a fake site.
• Hide an account you are signed in to.
• Guarantee that a library database will accept a VPN address. Some only allow the campus network.

Use a unique password and two-factor authentication on mail. Those matter on campus whether or not the VPN is on. The UK National Cyber Security Centre's public Wi-Fi note applies here as well: NCSC, using public Wi-Fi safely.