but isnt there any app tha can encode my data packets or something like that??
It might help if you think of this in terms of old-fashioned messengers hand-carrying coded messages (like in World War II). When you encrypt something and send it out over the network, it's like you are a field operative handing the coded message to a messenger guy and telling him to carry it to your recipient at headquarters. Because the messenger doesn't know the code, he can't read the message. But the recipient knows the code and, upon receiving the message, can translate it back from gobbledygook into readable text. And once he decodes it, the recipient can pass along the decoded message to his superiors or whoever else needs to read it.
In an encrypted wireless network, your computer's wireless card is the sender, the messenger is the radio waves, and the recipient who knows the code is the router. Thus, your communications are protected from third-party interception as they travel between your computer and the router -- but not after they leave the router and go out into the Internet.
If you want to encrypt the message but the router can't (or won't) do encryption, then you have to find a different "recipient" on the Internet who will know the code. The two most examples from the Internet are SSL web connections and encrypted VPN connections:
- SSL on the web: This is what e-commerce websites use when they're collecting your credit card numbers and stuff. Your web browser is the "sender" and will encrypt all traffic sent to and from the e-commerce web site. The IP system is the "messenger." The web site is the "recipient" and decodes your messages after receiving them. Thus, you have end-to-end encryption from your browser to the e-commerce site.
- VPN connection: Normally, a VPN server will be located in your office's/university's network. The VPN client on your computer is the "sender" and will capture and encrypt all of your network traffic. The IP system is the "messenger." The VPN server inside the office network is the "recipient" and will send out your decrypted messages to the office network and/or outside, via the office network's Internet connection.
So, you can't just think about encrypting your data traffic without thinking about who decrypts it and where! If your office has a VPN server that you can log on to, that's probably the best solution. Otherwise, just keep in mind that anything you do over a non-SSL connection is going to be open for snooping at any point along the way.
