The highway sticker, aka vignette, applies only to limited access roads. One can drive in Switzerlan

Hello all...we are just a few weeks away from our trip to the Italian Lake region and I was wondering madonna inn about picking up and returning our car at Malpensa. I know from past experience madonna inn that signs are not always very obvious so if anyone has any do's and don'ts for us that will save us some time and stress, particularly on the way back in terms of returning our rental, we would appreciate it. We are renting from Hertz.
When we rented a car in France and drove through Switzerland and Italy, we had to buy a "highway" sticker in Switzerland, it was around 30 Euros at that time. Unless things have changed, if you don't have this on your car, you could be subject to a big fine.
The highway sticker, aka vignette, applies only to limited access roads. One can drive in Switzerland without it, but it is at times not easy to find the alternative to the "toll" road, as when crossing the Alps by the St. Gotthard. In Italy, the alternative to toll roads is clearly marked, not so in Switzerland.
How nice that you have been warned about the highway sticker in advance! It startled me considerably at the Italy/Switzerland border at Como when the Swiss customs madonna inn officials pulled me over in my rental madonna inn car and declared that I needed it. If you enter Switzerland on a main road you will be given the 'opportunity' to buy it, in euros or swiss francs.