Hello,
Yes - it is rather a complex procedure for very little payoff. BTWifi-X appears to have a less secure connection (at least that is what my iPhone tells me when connected), though it is an encrypted connection it is apparently of a weaker encryption, and actually connecting to it takes as long as paint does to dry. I am honestly not sure why it is there, when the open BTWi-fi is right there with it and the BT Wi-Fi pages encourage you to use a VPN with it to make it secure.
And if you want to use BTWifi-X with your MAC? It is a very hacky-fiddly procedure: full instructions here work, but you have to be quick.
Instead I use the BTWi-fi open Wi-Fi hotspot and with it (through iCloud+) use the iCloud Private Relay which takes all the VPN/Proxy/Tor-like elements that I personally care about, which certainly secures you against threat across an open hotspot. (Finding out all the ins and outs of 'how' it does all of this on a technical level can be a pain due to the fact it 'just works', and so the user doesn't usually need all that info, but it is out there to be had).
If they really want to provide a BT Wi-Fi hotspot that is secure for business users, or advanced users, they should really make it less of a clunky process.
Subsequently, the BT Wi-fi app — I have never been able to get the search working on that thing. Postcode or address it just says: location not found. Seems they need time spent on the entire experience from that standpoint. Of course, a load of the reviews for the app are just people complaining about their home Wi-fi which is not what the app is for, nor what should be being reviewed as it is only in regard to the public hotspots. (Which of course also come from your BT Routers, but as they are separate and segregated from your configurable Wi-fi should therefore be referred to as such).
Anyway, just my two cents worth.
