Connect your phone to your local Wi-Fi hotspots
Imagine you're walking to the shops. While you walk you hear a bird chirping, you see a tree gently swaying in the breeze. It's very boring so you want to listen to a podcast about politics instead.
However, since you followed advice from previous practical betterments and reduced your mobile data allowance, you can only download podcasts while on Wi-Fi.
You are forced to listen to the bird.
This may sound like a farfetched nightmare, but it's a reality for several people worldwide.
Connecting your phone to all your local Wi-Fi routers can save mobile data and prevent the unwanted contemplation of nature.
How to connect to your local Wi-Fi hotspots
When I first thought of this, I checked to see if there are apps that can automatically join local Wi-Fi networks. There are, but I don't trust them and it seems a bit wrong somehow.
So instead, every time I patronise a business in my local area I check if they have Wi-Fi open to the public. If they do I join it.
Now when I walk down the high street my phone connects to each one as I pass by.
I have no idea how much data this has saved me but it has been surprisingly useful. A couple of weeks ago, I left home without downloading a podcast I wanted to listen to. Just as I realised this, my phone connected to the local pub's Wi-Fi, and my podcast downloaded.
Is it safe to join all these Wi-Fi hotspots?
Probably not. I suggest you don't do anything sensitive while connected to public Wi-Fi — or if you do, make sure you use a VPN.