DEV Community: Mateo Silva

Free WiFi Isn't Really Free: What I Learned About Public Networks

Mateo Silva — Fri, 16 Oct 2026 06:45:34 +0000

I connect to public WiFi all the time — coffee shops, the library, waiting at the airport. I never thought twice about it. But after learning how networks actually work in my IT120 class, I started to realize how easy it is for someone on the same network to mess with your data.

The Objective

Figure out what the real risks of public WiFi are, and what I can actually do to protect myself.

The Problem

This week we learned that a network is just a group of hosts sharing the same connection. On a public network, that means you're on the same network as everyone else there — including anyone with bad intentions. You don't know who they are, and you don't control the router.

Here are the main ways attackers take advantage of that:

Evil twin networks — Someone sets up a fake hotspot with a name like "Starbucks_Free_WiFi." Your device connects, and now all your traffic goes through their device instead of the real router.
Man-in-the-middle attacks — The attacker sits between you and the internet, watching or changing what you send and receive.
Packet sniffing — On open networks with no encryption, anything not protected (like old HTTP sites) can be captured and read.
Fake login pages — Some fake networks show a "sign in to use WiFi" page that asks for your email, password, or even card info.
Exposed devices — If file sharing is turned on, other people on the network might be able to see your device.

What surprised me most is that none of this requires the attacker to be a genius. The tools are easy to find, and the hardest part is just getting people to connect, which is easy when the WiFi is free.

How I'm Protecting Myself Now

Double-check the network name with the staff before connecting.
Only use HTTPS sites (the lock icon in the browser) and never ignore certificate warnings.
Use a VPN so my traffic is encrypted even if the network isn't safe.
Use my phone's hotspot for anything important, like banking.
Turn off auto-connect so my phone doesn't jump on random networks.
Set the network as "Public" in Windows so file sharing and discovery are turned off.
Turn on two-factor authentication, so even if a password gets stolen, it's not enough.

What I've Learned

Being on the same network as someone means you're trusting them more than you think.
The router and gateway control everything, and on public WiFi, you don't know who controls them.
Encryption (HTTPS and VPNs) is what really keeps your data safe.
Free WiFi is fine for browsing, but not for logging into anything important.

Next time you see "Free WiFi," think twice before you connect, and definitely before you log in to your bank.

Desktop as a Service (DaaS): The Good and the Bad

Mateo Silva — Tue, 12 May 2026 04:51:56 +0000

At my job we use Citrix for Desktop as a Service (DaaS) — basically instead of running everything on a local machine, we log into a virtual desktop that lives on a remote server. I've been using it for a while now and overall it's been a solid experience, but it definitely has its ups and downs.

The Good

The best part is flexibility. I can log in from pretty much anywhere and have my full work desktop ready to go. There's also a security benefit — nothing is stored locally, so if a device gets lost or stolen, no company data is at risk. And when someone new starts, IT doesn't have to spend hours setting up a machine. They just create an account and that person is good to go.

The Bad

It's not all smooth though. The performance can feel sluggish sometimes — I think they could allocate more resources to the servers because basic tasks shouldn't feel slow. Anything graphics-heavy is rough too — Google Maps, websites with a lot of animations, anything with heavy visuals just crawls. Printing is another pain point. It's noticeably slower than printing from a local machine and sometimes it just doesn't cooperate.
And the worst part — when the server goes down, everyone stops working. It doesn't happen often, but when it does there's nothing you can do but wait. That's the trade-off of having everything centralized.

Final Thoughts

DaaS makes a lot of sense for most day-to-day work, but it's not perfect. If you need performance or you rely on anything graphics-intensive, you're going to feel the limitations. Still, the convenience and security make it worth it overall.

Why My Nintendo Switch 2 Can't Find the WiFi (And What I'm Doing About It)

Mateo Silva — Sun, 12 Apr 2026 06:21:49 +0000

So I recently picked up a Nintendo Switch 2, and before I could even download my first game, I ran into a networking problem that's taught me more about WiFi than any textbook has so far.

The Objective

Simple enough — connect my Switch 2 to my home WiFi and start gaming.

The Hurdle

The Switch 2 couldn't detect my WiFi network. After some digging, I found out this is a known bug — the console struggles to discover networks when the signal is too strong nearby. My Xfinity gateway is in the same room, so being too close was actually part of the problem.

I tried everything I could think of: splitting the 2.4GHz, 5GHz, and 6GHz bands into separate networks, changing the security mode between WPA2 and WPA3, creating new SSIDs, and digging into the Xfinity gateway's advanced settings through the browser. None of it worked.

I escalated — had Xfinity replace the gateway, then had Nintendo replace the Switch 2 itself. Same problem both times. At that point, it became clear this is a software-level bug on Nintendo's side.

Living in an apartment complex makes it worse. The Switch 2 seems to get overwhelmed by the dozens of WiFi networks broadcasting from neighbors on every side, which is likely why apartment dwellers are getting hit the hardest.

The Workaround (For Now)

Here's the weird part. If I walk to my apartment door, the Switch suddenly finds my network. I can connect and then move anywhere in the apartment — the connection holds. But if I dock the Switch to play on TV (which uses Ethernet) and then undock it, the WiFi drops and I have to walk back to the door again.
So my current flow is: walk to the door, connect, walk back, play. It works, but it's not a permanent solution.

What's Next

I'm planning to add a TP-Link access point (EAP225 or EAP670) connected to the gateway via Ethernet, with its own SSID, WPA2-PSK security, and a fixed channel — a network I fully control that might behave differently with the Switch's firmware.

What I've Learned

A stronger signal isn't always better — device firmware matters just as much.
Methodical troubleshooting matters. Isolate variables one at a time before drawing conclusions.
ISP gateways trade user control for simplicity, which can box you in.
Sometimes the problem isn't your network — you can do everything right and still be waiting on a firmware fix.

I'll follow up once the access point is set up, or once Nintendo drops an update. Whichever comes first.