Free wi-fi is a windfall, especially if you're working from the library or airport, or if you just want to save data on your phone or laptop. Still, you do have to care about security when you're out and about. Here's how to surf safely, on any device.

If you can charge your smartphone wirelessly, congratulations. You have arrived at the future, a time when the Herculean process of fumbling with a cable, inserting it into the bottom of your device, and waiting for the satisfactory tone feels archaic and silly. With one convenient, reasonably priced power pad, you can now set your smartphone down, wait for the ding, and go about your merry way. Cables are for suckers.

Dear Lifehacker, Lately it seems like my high speed connection is bogged down, and I'm getting a creepy feeling that someone's stealing my bandwidth on my Wi-Fi network.

How can I find out if other people are leeching my Wi-Fi, and how do I stop them if they are?

If you own a Chromecast and have annoying friends or housemates, you’re probably tired of them interrupting your movie-watching by streaming stupid videos to your device. Rickrolls are funny the first time, not the 26th, and especially not when you’re invested in your favourite show or film.

Android: If you’ve updated to Android 9 Pie, you may have noticed that your smartphone will now automatically turn on your Wi-Fi connection — if you’ve turned it off — when you’re near familiar network with a strong signal. This feature, which debuted in Android Oreo, is now flipped on by default in Android Pie.

Dear Lifehacker, Is there a way to use my phone to provide wifi to my laptop and smart tv so we can say goodbye to our home broadband? I'm flabbergasted at the cost of internet!

Though more router manufacturers are making routers easier to set up and configure — even via handy little apps instead of annoying web-based interfaces — most people probably don't tweak many options after purchasing a new router. They log in, change the name and passwords for their Wi-Fi networks and call it a day.

If you aren't checking your Internet speeds on a weekly basis, you might not know when there's a problem. You aren't likely to notice a difference between 150 Mbps and 80 Mbps download speeds when you're browsing websites, watching (1080p) YouTube, or chatting with friends, but if you're downloading a huge Fortnite update, why drive in the slow lane?

Windows: There are a million little apps that feature some combination of the words "Wi-Fi" and "analysis", or something really close to either. Some apps are paid; some are free. And they all allow you see different combinations of information about your wireless setup (and the wireless setups of those around you).

I've always been a fan of Valve's Steam streaming, because it means you don't have to lug your desktop PC around your house or apartment whenever you feel like gaming somewhere else. Though your laptop might not be able to run The Witcher 3 natively - or at least, not very well - it's a lot easier to let your gaming desktop do all the heavy lifting and stream its output to another device, such as the three-year-old laptop you're using from your backyard hammock.

I love automation; I do. I just think it's the most fun thing ever to walk into my house and have my smart lights immediately pull up some colourful scene — not to mention all the absurd configurations I can create that changes their colours and brightness when certain things happen, ranging from "I got a tweet" to "It's midnight why are you still awake go to bed."

Today's "I'll believe it when I see it" iPhone rumour-mongering concerns not the iPhone itself, but its charger - the most important accessory you'll find in its meticulously crafted packaging. As the speculation goes, Apple is allegedly considering bumping up the default charger for the iPhone 9 or iPhone X2: from 5W to 18W.

You check into your hotel after a hard day of travelling. All you want to do is kick off your shoes, set the temperature to whatever hot or cold extreme you wouldn't be able to get away with at home, and say hello to your Netflix queue before some much-earned rest. And then you realise the terrible truth: Your Wi-Fi connection is horrible or, worse, non-existent.

Netgear has long been a significant player in the networking business. The Orbi is their play in the competitive world of mesh networking, that uses multiple wireless devices that interoperate to cover a large area with a single WLAN.Netgear sent me me three different Orbi systems to try out. I've reviewed their premium system, the AC3000 system, which is designed to cover up to 350 square metres of area.

A security researcher from F-Secure has discovered that toggling WiFi and Bluetooth in the iOS Control Centre doesn't actually turn the radios off. Aside from being completely counter-intuitive, it means the device's threat surface remains broader than users realise.

Wires are no fun, especially when they're attached to your earphones. That's why many headphone manufacturers are making the push towards Bluetooth and wireless listening. While there are plenty of wireless earphones on the market, the HBQ i7 Twins True Wireless Earphones stand out from the pack with their next-level comfort and truly wireless design.

According to Qantas' latest financial results, its domestic trial of free Wi-Fi has gone swimmingly -- so much so that from late next month, the airline plans to "accelerate" the service's rollout.

Wireless networks have been a great boon to businesses. Being able to connect to a network from almost anywhere using any device without being tethered by a cable has completely changed the way businesses operate. But when they don't work as expected they can be an epic pain in the butt to troubleshoot. That's where the NETSCOUT AirCheck G2 comes in handy. It can scan your wireless LAN and alert you to dead spots, rogue access points and sources of interference.

The first router I saw was in the mid 1990s. The company I worked for was a very early adopter of the Internet, at least in the commercial world. After spending a couple of nights with the network manager and his technical support guy dragging Ethernet and coaxial cables through the office roof space we hooked everything up through a router that cost more than most of us earned that year. Today, more than 20 years later, a faster and more capable device costs less than a day's pay for some of us.

Synology's RT2600ac router, at a touch under $400 (if you pay full retail) lets you connect printers and external storage using USB, four devices over gigabit Ethernet, and wireless devices using 802.11 b/g/n/a/ac.