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(noob question) Is it fine to use Tor on an unsafe network?
(sh.itjust.works)
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this post was submitted on 26 Aug 2026
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Privacy
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Short answer: no. Tor is specifically designed to mask all network requests from the Tor browser. All the cafe can see is your connection to a Tor node.
If they were somehow detecting video based on traffic patterns ( how often packets are transmitted or received they'd have to sever the only connection they see and your whole Tor session would freeze or need to connect to a new bridge. I believe Tor even attempts to try to mask traffic patterns to disassociate guard node and exit node traffic.
Most likely invidious was having issues.
If you control the access point at home, see if you can put your devices on a separate VLAN. This should help isolate your devices from any infected devices. Otherwise using a hot spot will isolate you from infected devices.
If you want to be completely sure that your connection type/target cannot be identified, you need to hide your connection on the physical layer. A VPN could do this. They create a virtual interface through which your traffic goes before leaving your device. However, using Tor on a VPN connection is a topic of debate, so read up on it, perhaps here(YouTube link!) and here(official Tor wiki), and make up your own mind.
You could also MacGyver a portable Tor router which you physically connect to, either through an Ethernet port or WiFi on your computer and then connect that Tor router to the café's WiFi.
Also, and after this I'll shut up, since you mentioned Qubes: you could also setup a qube to be a virtual Tor router, through which you route your traffic/browsing/surfing from your "working" qube. This, however, requires enabling at least ipv4 forwarding in the kernel and configuring your firewall to enable network address translation.
i got an error message (that ive never got before invidious has a lot of errors) saying that the network blocked it when i did it
also can you set up a vlan just from your device? my family wont want me messing with the wifi ( also idk how the employees would just let you mess with their network)
Use Tailscale; you set up a single account and then install the client on the devices you want to connect. You can select one to be an exit node (one on your home network) and then all devices can connect to that device and transit to the Internet irrespective of port forwarding etc.
The one downside to this is that you do end up with an account hosted on Tailscale servers, but this becomes the only exposure point.
thanks, btw does it slow the wifi or device down a lot and is ir free? im already using qubes and whonix and tor on my poor laptop
Tailscale is free and is just a wireguard client/server; there’s apps for Linux/Windows/Android/macOS/iOS, and they shouldn’t make much of an impact. Of course, whatever network traffic you route over it could have an impact, but that’s up to you.
will it help against networks that arent secure or private?
Yes, because you’re using an encrypted channel for all network traffic and your home DNS.
There are some ways that an activity hostile Wi-Fi network can route around some of that, but for most use cases, it provides you a secure extension of your home network.
thanks man ill check it out