The Motel Wi-Fi That Put Guests at Risk: Digital Neglect in Everyday Infrastructure

Miranda Griffin
Aug 25
4 min read

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A Motel, a Wi-Fi Signal, and a False Sense of Security

When people check into a roadside motel, they rarely think twice about the Wi-Fi. It’s become like running water or electricity — invisible infrastructure that’s assumed to “just work.” As our audit of the Edgewick Inn revealed, that invisible infrastructure isn’t just fragile. It’s unsafe.

Edgewick, a small independent motel, offered guests a free “high-speed Wi-Fi” network. What they actually got was an open, unencrypted signal broadcast through a daisy-chain of cheap wall extenders. The network had no password, no terms of use, and no encryption. In short: every email, card number, and password typed over that connection was exposed.

Since our review, Edgewick has corrected one issue — their public-facing website now uses HTTPS encryption. That’s a good start, but for guests using the Wi-Fi on-site, the risks remain.

What We Found

Our digital infrastructure audit surfaced four critical failures:

Unsecured Wi-Fi — No WPA2/3 encryption, no password, no login portal. Any device could join, no questions asked.
Signal Fragmentation — Instead of a secure router setup, the motel used low-grade extenders in each hallway. The result: unstable coverage and endless connection drops.
No Privacy Policy — No statement of data practices, terms of service, or even a warning that the network was insecure.
Physical Risk Amplifiers — The property sits next to a truck stop, meaning anyone could pull up, blend in, and exploit the open network.

Why It Matters

Digital neglect is often dismissed as a minor inconvenience — a frozen screen here, a bad signal there. The implications go deeper:

Data theft risk: With no encryption, emails, banking details, and personal logins could be intercepted by anyone with basic tools.
Legal liability: Businesses in Washington State and beyond are subject to a growing patchwork of laws, including state consumer protection acts, the FTC’s unfair/deceptive practices standard, and data breach notification rules. Providing unencrypted Wi-Fi without warning puts owners in dangerous legal territory.
Trust erosion: For businesses built on reputation, news of digital negligence spreads fast and drives customers away.

Most importantly, it challenges a dangerous assumption: that small businesses are “too small to matter.” In reality, opportunistic actors target exactly these weak points, where resistance is low and the risk of being caught is minimal.

The Bigger Infrastructure System Failure

Edgewick isn’t an outlier. Across the country, motels, local hospitals, rural schools, and small clinics run on digital infrastructure that’s outdated, insecure, and barely maintained.

Why? Because digital systems are still treated as “extras,” not as critical infrastructure. A business owner wouldn’t leave their front doors unlocked at night. Yet unsecured Wi-Fi — a digital unlocked door — is routine.

This is a resilience problem. Communities can’t function without digital connectivity, but we’ve failed to create standards and expectations that match the stakes. The risks don’t stay contained in one building. They ripple outward: one compromised laptop can become a ransomware foothold, one stolen credential can fuel broader fraud.

A Different Way Forward

Fixing this isn’t about luxury add-ons. It’s about setting a baseline of safety that any business, no matter how small, can realistically meet.

Encryption by default: Every business should use WPA2/3 Wi-Fi with a password. No exceptions.
Secure websites: HTTPS (which Edgewick has now adopted) is table stakes for any public-facing site.
Transparency: Clear, posted privacy policies and terms of use give guests informed consent — and reduce liability under consumer protection laws.
Affordable compliance kits: Regulators and tech providers should package low-cost “starter kits” (secure router, standard terms template, monitoring tools) so small businesses aren’t left duct-taping extenders to the wall.

The goal isn’t perfection. It’s resilience. Even small steps — encrypting networks, securing websites, posting notices — dramatically reduce risk.

Why Wolves & Fire Studio Is Watching

At Wolves & Fire Studio, we investigate system failures — not because we like pointing fingers, but because every small failure points to a bigger pattern. Edgewick Inn isn’t just a motel with bad Wi-Fi. It’s a microcosm of a national problem: neglecting digital infrastructure until a crisis forces attention.

The lesson is simple but urgent: if we don’t treat digital safety as seriously as physical safety, we leave people exposed. The ones paying the price aren’t corporations or regulators — they’re ordinary people checking into motels, logging onto public Wi-Fi, and trusting that the invisible systems around them will hold.

They deserve better.

References & Compliance Notes

FTC Act, Section 5 — Prohibits unfair or deceptive practices. Offering “free Wi-Fi” without disclosing security risks could fall under deceptive practices.
Washington Consumer Protection Act (RCW 19.86) — Protects consumers from unfair or deceptive acts in trade or commerce.
Washington State Data Breach Notification Law (RCW 19.255) — Requires businesses to notify consumers of data breaches involving personal information.
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) — For businesses serving EU visitors, requires “appropriate technical and organizational measures” for data protection.
California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) — Sets disclosure requirements and consumer rights; relevant for motels attracting interstate or international guests.

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