Does a VPN used on a smartphone with Wi-Fi disabled (mobile data only enabled) provide any sort of protection?

hedge@beehaw.org to Technology@beehaw.org – 31 points –

I've never completely understood this, but I think the answer would probably be "no," although I'm not sure. Usually when I leave the house I turn off wifi and just use mobile data (this is a habit from my pre-VPN days), although I guess I should probably just keep it on since using strange Wi-Fi with a VPN is ok (unless someone at Starbucks is using the evil twin router trick . . . ?). I was generally under the impression that mobile data is harder to interfere with than Wi-Fi, but I could well be wrong and my notions out of date. So, if need be, please set me straight. 🙂

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I run my own wireguard VPN at home and connect to it from my phone when I'm traveling.

Grants me privacy (but not anonymity) from my mobile carrier. Sure, my home ISP still sees my VPN's traffic, but that's still one less company able to monitor my web traffic when I'm mobile.

Running your own VPN in that situation is a good use-case agreed - assuming you trust yourself :)

I'm experienced enough to know that out of my mobile carrier and ISP, I am the least trustworthy operator.

Same. Also feels a bit safer connecting to public wifi.