A new study by NordVPN’s travel eSIM app Saily reveals that Washington, D.C., leads the U.S. in per capita searches for free or public Wi-Fi.
Saily’s analysis looked at Google search volumes across all 50 states, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico, adjusting for population, to find out where Americans are most actively seeking out free internet. The District of Columbia and five states — Louisiana, New York, Nevada, Maryland, and North Carolina — showed significantly higher per capita search activity than others.
Interestingly, when these findings were compared to the states that attract the most international tourists per capita, the results did not line up. “We expected tourist hotspots to top the Wi-Fi demand list, but that wasn’t the case,” says Vykintas Maknickas, CEO of Saily. “New York and Nevada are outliers — they’re among the most visited states and also rank high for Wi-Fi searches. But overall, the correlation between tourism and public Wi-Fi interest is surprisingly weak.”
The dangers of free Wi-Fi
While free Wi-Fi is convenient, especially for travelers and workers on the go, experts warn that it often comes at a cost — increased vulnerability to cyberattacks. “Hackers still exploit public Wi-Fi networks,” says Vykintas Maknickas, CEO of Saily. “They can create rogue networks that mimic legitimate ones, steal data, inject malware, and users may not have any idea it’s happening.”
If an unsuspecting user connects to unsafe Wi-Fi, the best case scenario is that hackers will read their browsing activity. In a worst case scenario, hackers are looking into committing identity theft and gaining financially from a potential victim.
For example, evil twin attacks copy the names of legitimate networks, such as a hotel’s or cafe’s, and wait for users to connect. If users unknowingly connect to the network, they give attackers the ability to intercept their communications.
Hackers can also install rogue hotspots on legitimate networks, which can then be used to spread malware. Furthermore, man-in-the-middle attacks are able to intercept the communication between the user and the network, accessing all browsing activity.
What do experts recommend?
Maknickas recommends those using public Wi-Fi to take these steps to protect themselves:
Avoid accessing sensitive information. Refrain from accessing banking sites, making online purchases, or providing sensitive information while on public Wi-Fi — it’s better to use mobile data for such tasks.
Forget the network. After using a public Wi-Fi network, choose the option “forget the network” on your device to prevent automatic reconnection in the future.
Update software. Ensure your operating system, browsers, and applications are up to date with the latest security patches.
Consider using a VPN (virtual private network). A VPN encrypts your internet connection, making it much harder for attackers to intercept your data.
Methodology: Saily’s team used Semrush to gather annual search volumes for keywords related to free Wi-Fi and public Wi-Fi. The data was adjusted for population size and normalized on a scale from 0 to 100 to allow for fair comparison across states and territories.