Depending on where you live, there are tons of places that offer free Wi-Fi connections so you can work or study remotely, or avoid cutting into your data limits on your smartphone. However, some public networks are pretty annoying about the connection process, with all sorts of interstitial login pages getting between you and that sweet wireless networking.

It’s never fun to lose your phone, but it can get worse. While Androids and iPhones have plenty of protections you can use to lock or otherwise find your device when you’ve misplaced it, or when someone has swiped it, these do you little good if you can’t even log into your online account to activate them.

As far as tech bugs go, this is a pretty weird one. The new Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield games are causing some Roku set-top boxes and TVs to crash. Pokémon Sword and Shield play exclusively on the Nintendo Switch and shouldn’t have any reason to interface with Roku devices. (The power of Pokémon is apparently limitless.)

I am weak. I splurged on a brand-new pair of AirPods Pro and I’ve been fiddling around with them all day. Setting up these third-generation wireless earbuds isn’t that difficult, but there are a few settings you’re definitely going to want to play with if you preordered a pair yourself (or plan to pick some up later).

Well, that was unexpected. With absolutely no fanfare whatsoever—not even a tease at last month’s big press event—Apple officially announced its brand-new AirPods Pro in a press release today. What you lack in Tim Cook stuffing tiny speakers in his ears, you gain in features. Specifically, noise-cancelling capabilities, which are finally hitting Apple’s wireless earbuds after nearly three years of waiting.

Riddle me this: You’re out somewhere and you need to hop on a wifi network with a new device. You realise you have the wifi password saved on your laptop, but not on whatever device you’re looking to connect. And you’re either too lazy to ask for the password again, or you have no way to acquire it in your present condition.

What do you do? Easy. Pull out your laptop and look it up. Here’s how.

In this week’s technology-advice column from Lifehacker, we’re going back to our favourite topic: wireless networking. This time around, a reader is having some issues getting an important piece of older gear to work with an important piece of newer gear. If you’ve ever upgraded your router, or are planning to, this situation should be all too familiar.

It’s been six long years since Google first debuted its Chromecast streaming stick. While most of you have probably upgraded to something better by now — such as the more powerful "puck" version — if you haven’t, you now have yet another reason to make the switch: Google isn’t going to update your old-school Chromecast anymore.

You sit down at the airport, ready for (or relaxing during) a big day of travel. You have the perfect spot, closer to a power outlet than to annoying people. And right when you open your laptop, you realise... you have no idea how to get on the nearest wifi, or even what its password is.

Being able to turn your smartphone into a miniature access point that can give other devices an internet connection, like your laptop, is one of the best features ever. It’s saved my bacon plenty of times, those rarer moments when I need to use my laptop for something (like editing a Lifehacker post), but can’t access any nearby Wi-Fi.

A few years ago, hackers discovered that they could remotely take control of a PC by exploiting a vulnerability in Logitech wireless dongles. According to The Verge, dongles that Logitech is shipping today are still vulnerable to the same remote access hack—dubbed “MouseJack.” -- a list that includes the manufacturer’s Unifying Receiver and G900 wireless gaming mouse.

There's a couple of trends among gaming mice in the last couple of years: lighter and, if possible, wireless. But while gamers are generally clamouring for more both of those things, there's always been an outlier in the market: the gargantuan, almost monolithic G502.

A beast of mouse, the G502 has been a long favourite for gamers who prefer a larger mouse with more productivity benefits. The G502 was basically unparalleled in that space, and now that it's got possibly the best wireless sensor on the market, it's basically perfect.

Wireless networking is kind of like an emergency kit for your car. You don’t really think much about it when it’s there, but you’re going to notice it’s missing when you need it. Also, you want to make sure it’s set up to give you the best possible experience.

When it comes to wireless charging, I confess, I’m not that well-versed in the intricacies of smartphone electronics. More importantly, there are plenty of myths about how you should charge your device in the most effective, safest, and least battery-draining manner.

I don’t want to repeat junk science, so I’ll try to provide as much sourcing as I can for my battery-related statements.

I might as well rename the Ask Lifehacker column “The Wifi Wizard,” given how many of you have written in with wireless networking questions over the past several months. That’s fine, though. Wireless networking is near and dear to my heart, as I have wonderful memories of the three years I spent testing routers for Wirecutter—lots and lots of routers, and enough throughput tests to last a lifetime.

Hiding your neighbours’ wifi networks, not to be confused with blocking, is entirely possible. After all, your device automatically connects to your wireless network if you’ve saved the credentials. And in Windows’ “wifi connection box”, for lack of a better name, your OS automatically sorts all the wifi networks it sees from the strongest signal strength to the weakest (minus any hidden networks).

Unless your neighbour has an access point inside your house, you should be seeing your wifi networks at the top — or close to it.

Like Michael Myers from those Halloween movies, some things in life are (seemingly) inescapable. Taxes. Politics. Your neighbour’s wifi networks that are strong enough to give you an unusable signal in your home or apartment, no matter where you are.

Everyone has questions about wireless networking — and that’s totally OK. There’s plenty you might not know about wifi, even if you’ve successfully set up your router and are sitting there, right now, browsing Lifehacker on your laptop, desktop, smartphone, or tablet.

A Lifehacker reader alerted me about the existence of Ubiquiti’s WiFiman app in a recent Tech 911 post—thanks, Rick!—and I wholeheartedly recommend it if you’re an Android user. The app also exists for iOS, and it has a few fun features, but it’s not nearly as useful for learning more about all the Wi-Fi congestion that’s slowing down your connections.