Free WiFi Italy

You should usually find it in hotels and train stations (but sometimes have to pay), as well as some cities have it in public squares and parks (obviously not a secure network).

All the bars in my neighbourhood offer free WiFi to their customers; but switching from 4G data connection to WiFi, entering the password... too booooring, too looong... nobody except teens with pics and videos to upload ask for the WiFi password.

I have found it extremely common to have free wifi access (via a password given to you upon request) in bars and cafes throughout Italy (Rome, Florence, Lucca, Palermo, Siracusa, Venice, Assisi, etc....)

Free wifi is common at bars, etc., but would not count of any site being secure including hotels. Just be very careful about how you use it.

Free WiFI is common in Italy, but as noted above, it's probably a PITA to keep switching to it unless you are desperately trying to save mobile data - which is cheap now. SIM cards are cheap, and if your phone is unlocked, it will be a whole lot easier just to buy one, so you can use your phone everywhere (for maps, etc.).

I wouldn't worry about secure WiFi vs. open WiFI in 2019 if you are using websites that are encrypted (secure or "https")) - which is almost all websites in 2019, including these Rick Steves forums. (They don't need to be encrypted - but if they weren't, you'd keep seeing "Not Secure" messages and people would worry.) On these secure websites, everything is encrypted between your device and the web host you are communicating with. Anyone trying to snoop on your web traffic with special equipment will see gibberish.

goode,

My thoughts are the same as Dario mentioned. One of our internet providers here offers "open" Wi-Fi all over town, but it's a PITA to sign in, agree to terms and all that other rubbish each time I want to use it. I simply switch WiFi "off" and use LTE as it's a quicker and easier solution.

I've been using "Roam Like Home" with my home cell network when I travel, so I do the same thing when I'm in Europe, since I have the same data allotment.

Yes, phone data may be cheap and 4G or even LTE easily accessible, but if you are in a restaurant or bar or coffee shop located in an ancient building with 2ft or 3ft walls, unless you are next to a window you will get no signal whatsoever on your phone. That is when having access to the establishment’s WiFi comes handy to navigate.