Is it Safe to Game on Hotel Wi-Fi in 2024? Mostly, with Precautions

As a professional Twitch streamer and lifelong gaming enthusiast, I‘ve done my fair share of gaming while traveling for conferences and tournaments. Hotel Wi-Fi can be temptingly convenient on the road, but how safe is it really for gaming in 2024?

After dealing with spotty connections and the occasional hacked account, I learned it pays to be careful when gaming over hotel networks. Public Wi-Fi poses moderate privacy and security risks, but the severity depends on your game of choice and platform.

The good news is there are simple precautions travelers can take to game safely from their hotel rooms in most cases. In this post I‘ll cover:

• The main risks of gaming on hotel Wi-Fi
• How to secure your gaming devices, accounts and connections
• Tips for maintaining performance and quality of play

I‘ll also share from my own experience gaming at hotels long-term.

Risks of Gaming on Hotel Wi-Fi

Gaming over hotel Wi-Fi is risky for a couple key reasons:

No Encryption

Most hotel networks do not encrypt traffic sent over Wi-Fi. That means hackers nearby can potentially intercept unsecured gaming data like:

• Login credentials
• Chat messages
• VOIP communications

Public Exposure

On a private home network, the only real threats are compromised devices connected to that network.

But on crowded public Wi-Fi there could be dozens or even hundreds of devices connected, any one of which could be infected.

Recent gaming-related cyber attacks also showcase these risks:

• Over 2 million gaming accounts were compromised via phishing in 2022 (Source)
• Gaming giants like EA, CD Projekt Red and Crytek hacked in recent years

High Risk Games & Platforms

Some types of games and platforms pose larger threats if you play them over hotel Wi-Fi:

As you can see, fast-paced competitive games carry the most risk due to account security concerns, VOIP chat channels, frequent microtransactions etc.

But even slower paced games can pose risks thanks to account credential harvesting and malware vulnerabilities…

Securing Your Games & Devices from Hotel Wi-Fi Risks

Thankfully with the right preparation, you can game safely from virtually any hotel Wi-Fi network.

Here are my top tips for travelers wanting to secure their gaming on hotel networks:

Use a VPN

A Virtual Private Network (VPN) creates an encrypted tunnel between your device and the internet. This prevents snooping over public networks.

I use ExpressVPN but any highly rated VPN will work.

Play Over Ethernet

For laptop and desktop gamers, use an Ethernet cable connected to the hotel‘s wired internet instead of Wi-Fi whenever possible. This offers much faster speeds as well with minimal latency.

Setup a Mobile Hotspot

Your smartphone can provide a portable Wi-Fi network for gaming devices by turning on its mobile hotspot feature. This gives you more control over security than hotel Wi-Fi.

Use Firewall & Antivirus Apps

Firewall software like ZoneAlarm adds an extra layer of device security whether you‘re on mobile or PC. This can help block incoming attacks.

Enable Two-Factor Authentication

For accounts that offer 2FA through SMS, biometrics or tokens, take advantage of this account hardening measure for key gaming profiles.

This saved my WoW account once!

Optimizing Game Performance Over Hotel Wi-Fi

Getting good connectivity with low latency is crucial, especially for competitive online games.

Here‘s how hotel Wi-Fi stacks up for gaming:

As you can see wired internet is best for eliminating lag in competitive games where split second reactions matter.

If Wi-Fi is your only option, connect from as close to the router as possible, restart your device before playing, and avoid background apps that siphon bandwidth.

The Hotel Gaming Experience – Lessons Learned

From Grinding RuneScape at hostels to leading Complexity‘s Overwatch team on Korean battlenet during overseas tourneys – I‘ve gamed on hotel networks a lot over the past decade!

Gaming on hotel Wi-Fi can be safe depending on precautions taken and the game itself. Personally I avoid voice chats and hyper competitive titles completely when on hotel networks just to be extra careful.

I also try to setup a mobile hotspot on my phone whenever possible since it offers more control over security than the public Wi-Fi. Of course this burns through LTE data quickly!

All in all, hotel gaming is relatively safe in 2024 assuming you:

• Use a VPN religiously
• Play less risky game genres
• Setup protections like 2FA
• Don‘t openly share personal info in games

While I don‘t recommend gaming on hotel Wi-Fi, with care you‘d likely be okay for most game types. But knowing the risks involved allows travelers to make informed gaming decisions.

On the performance side – 5G can‘t come to hotels soon enough, the Wi-Fi is still subpar compared to home networks. An ethernet cable is your best bet currently for low latency.

Hopefully these hotel gaming safety tips, performance comparisons, and lessons from my vast experience can help fellow wanderlust gamers play on securely worldwide! Let the grind continue, safely this time 😉

Game on travelers!