U.S. Airports With the Best Internet Connections

Keeping up with work during airport waiting and layover time is vital to those traveling for meetings—a slow connection can spoil that time quickly and require some unexpected pivots. A recent report by web testing and analysis company Ookla in Seattle, Washington, conducted in the first quarter of this year revealed which of the world’s major airports offer the best internet connections to passengers, considering both Wi-Fi and mobile speeds. More than 50 global airport connection speeds were tested using Speedtest, Ookla’s internet speed-testing software.

Test results showed that of those included in the study, seven U.S. airports have median Wi-Fi download speeds of over 100 megabytes per second (MBps), generally considered a “good” speed for Wi-Fi. In order, these included the following:

1. San Francisco International Airport (173.55 MBps)—San Francisco, California
2. Newark Liberty International Airport (166.51 MBps)—Newark, New Jersey
3. John F. Kennedy International Airport (151.59 MBps)—New York City, New York
4. Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (151.28 MBps)—Phoenix, Arizona
5. Seattle–Tacoma International Airport (137.31 MBps)—SeaTac, Washington
6. Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (119.92 MBps)—Dallas, Texas
7. Harry Reid International Airport (107.84 MBps)—Las Vegas, Nevada

The two U.S. airports that came back with the slowest speeds were George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Texas, with a median download speed of only 19.72 MBps; and Boston Logan International Airport in Boston, Massachusetts, whose download speeds average around 25.44 MBps. Download speeds below 25 MBps will generally produce less-than-favorable online experiences and the potential for spinning wheels, buffering, and heavy sighs.

For mobile connections, the bar is set a bit lower, with 25 megabytes per second functioning as an adequate speed for most users. The following airports came out on top for mobile speeds:

1. Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (295.94 MBps)—Phoenix, Arizona
2. Boston Logan International Airport (210.71 MBps)—Boston, Massachusetts
3. Newark Liberty International Airport (192.45 MBps)—Newark, New Jersey
4. Los Angeles International Airport (173.69 MBps)—Los Angeles, California
5. Denver International Airport (145.95 MBps)—Denver, Colorado
6. John F. Kennedy International Airport (130.47 MBps)—New York City, New York
7. Seattle–Tacoma International Airport (130.13 MBps)—SeaTac, Washington

The slowest mobile speeds were found at Orlando International Airport in Orlando, Florida, with average speeds of 15.84 MBps; followed by George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Texas, with average mobile connections clocking in at 48.11 MBps.

Travelers curious whether they should opt for connecting to mobile or Wi-Fi at their current airport location can visit Ookla’s website for a handy chart that shows which is faster at each U.S. airport where data is available.

ookla.com