computer access and use protection while in Prague

Assuming you are in a corporate environment, this question is better addressed
with your IT organization. No one here knows where you work, where you're
staying, what kind of corporate access you have, what you need to do while
away, etc.

I suggest using a VPN always if possible. Even at home, let alone while traveling.

You may also need a VPN to access websites in your home country that may not be available from Prague.

You may also need a VPN to access websites in your home country that
may not be available from Prague.

I run into this fairly often.

"access websites in your home country that may not be available from Prague."

Not necessarily true. I have traveled in many countries, do not have a VPN and have never had this problem.

"access websites in your home country that may not be available from Prague."
Not necessarily true. I have traveled in many countries, do not have a VPN and have never had this problem.

Well, the obvious answer is you do not go to websites that are geographically restricted.

The most common would be services like Netflix, Hulu, and other streaming services. In that case, it is an issue with licensing of the program content.

Others may allow access, but not not all functions, like purchases, even Amazon can be a bit tricky depending on what you are doing, with other sites they may restrict purchases to the home country.

But besides spoofing your location, VPNs are logical security measures, especially if you will be relying on WiFi at the hotel or in public settings.

For work, my company had secure connections that required use of a token, but if you ask, they may already have a subscription to a VPN service like NordVPN, which is a simple download.

Netflix is not geographically blocked. I use my US Netflix in Hungary every day. But my State professional licensing site is blocked as is tge required continuing education site and my state DMV.

I sure would like to know why someone thinks that going to a travel forum is going
to provide more sound technical input than his/her own corporate IT dept.

Yes, using a VPN is sound advice. But for access to a corporate network, there had
better be additional security and portal access that the OP should know about, and
we know nothing about.

VPN's for folks like us are good for 2 reasons; 1) they encrypt the traffic going to/from
our device 2) they allow you to appear as if you are originating from a different country
then you are actually in. This is the part about accessing websites from the home country
that are not available in the country of travel.

Bob has probably not run into this problem because he's not trying to watch Netflix
or ESPN through his US account or provider while in his hotel in Paris....

Use a VPN. Get an International driver permit. These are two questions that are so easily mitigated that one should not even think to hard upon.

treemoss2 I have neither.

shoeflyer, again, a US NETFLIX account works fine not matter where you are what you use to log in with. The lineup may be slightly different in each country, but Netflix will welcome you and acknowledge that it knows you are traveling.

My feeling about VPNs is that it's a fairly unnecessary step where every ip address that you visit is passing through the hands of another third party as an alternative to your ISP where they can do who-knows-what with it. They all claim to do minimal to no logging and run ethically, but that's a level of trust you need to have with the provider of your commercial VPN. The encryption can only shift your data one step forward to the VPN company whereas it would previously be with your ISP. I'm not logging on to public wifi much these days with having a bit of data on the phone contract, so the chances of encryption preventing an attack at that level are fairly minimal for me at least.

There's plenty of info about setting up your own hosted server and running a VPN available. I've considered that, but I've no real use for a VPN at the moment personally. That would be preferable to Nord VPN and such for me, but too geeky for most.

Also, the thought that occured to me when reading some posts further up the thread was "What if the OP doesn't have an IT team?" The lots of occasions where one is working without the support of a corporate IT infrastructure where that may be the case. We're not sure though, so OP should come back and contribute again soon hopefully. The "To VPN or Not To VPN" question is interesting though.

I think hotels and AirBnBs in Prague are likely to use routers and modems that have comparable firewall protections to what you'd commonly find in the US. That seems to respond to the kernel of the OP's question.

Bottom line: from an IT security standpoint, treat Prague much the same way as you'd treat Chicago, Morgantown or Zurich.

One could consider VPN protection in the same way one considers travel insurance or any insurance. You consider the cost of the product against the possible loss.
If I am paying $100 for a trip insurance for a trip worth $5000, most would say that is a good deal. When I pay $50 for a year of VPN (I have McAfee) covering multiple devices for a possible loss unknown, but at least the major inconvenience of now changing passwords, and recovering identity, and a myriad of other headaches that may occur even if you do not lose money, I would say it is a good trade off.
You have to have a perspective on this.

One could consider VPN protection in the same way one considers travel insurance or any insurance. You consider the cost of the product against the possible loss.
If I am paying $100 for a trip insurance for a trip worth $5000, most would say that is a good deal. When I pay $50 for a year of VPN (I have McAfee) covering multiple devices for a possible loss unknown, but at least the major inconvenience of now changing passwords, and recovering identity, and a myriad of other headaches that may occur even if you do not lose money, I would say it is a good trade off.

The heavily advertised VPN business has the whiff of snake oil to me sometimes.

Sorry about the oversize quote. I'm not sure all those things you mention are directly a benefit of tunnelling through a VPN. Some of it sounds like other stuff your McAfee package is doing. After reading and watching documentary coverage of the last few years of John McAfee's life, that's the last place I'd want to be sending my data :) I get that he had nothing to do with the software for a long time, but still, can't help thinking of him.

Ah... I'm just not 100% on board with routing all my traffic via some unknown entity offshore unless I really have to. I wouldn't personally bother getting a commercial VPN service for travelling. Maybe if I really wanted to watch BBC iPlayer, but I don't subscribe to any streaming services. It does make good sense to encrypt because you're doing confidential business, but as an individual not working with a corporate IT policy I probably wouldn't bother. Location spoofing is a benefit if you need it, but I don't think I would if were to go away to Spain or The Netherlands tomorrow.

GerryM, maybe VPN is the all saving ...... or maybe not. I was great with DOS, I could make a computer do what ever I wanted. I loved it. But now in old age, I love simple. It works when I turn it on or I toss it. Especially on holiday. No credit card points games to track and score, no ATM heartache and if I need tip money and the only thing available is a EuroNet machine then so be it, no VPN and I can live with the fact that I really am where I really am, no eSIMS so you call the number I have had for 45 years and my phone rings. No fuss no muss.