About 200,000 travelers board, depart, wait, dine, shop, and walk through Dallas Forth Worth International Airport each day. Between smartphones, laptops, and the many other devices connecting to the airport's free Wi-Fi, there's a lot of sharing going on—and when it comes to Wi-Fi speed, the numbers matter.
As of March 2024, the Federal Communications Commission officially raised the requirement for minimum broadband download speeds, which is the rate of data transferred from the Internet to the device, to 100 Mbps. Airalo analyzed data from Ookla's Speedtest Intelligence during the third quarter of 2023, testing the Wi-Fi speeds of the 50 busiest airports across the United States, and determined the three locations with the fastest free airport Wi-Fi have download speeds over 200 Mbps.
Most airports have a WiFi network made up of multiple access points. Factors such as how close you are to the access point, how many devices are connected to the same hotspot, and physical objects can interfere with signal strength and speed. It's not just travelers accessing these networks. Entire airport systems run on Wi-Fi networks, from safety and security to baggage handlers and air traffic controllers to airport vendors needing to process transactions smoothly and manage inventory. Well-regulated high-speed networks keep the flow of an airport efficient, which keeps travelers happy and wanting to spend money in terminals.
Airport Wi-Fi Safety and Accessibility
Because connectivity is an important factor in a traveler's overall impression of an airport, transportation authorities continue to work on improving their speeds. This might include increasing Wi-Fi access points, airport IT teams deciding how access points will interact, and encouraging travelers to favor airport Wi-Fi over personal hotspots, which can interfere with the quality of airport Wi-Fi networks.
While it is a common notion that public Wi-Fi is unsafe, experts suggest you are less likely to be affected by a major hack unless you are a public figure or a government entity. What's more, most websites and apps now have features to add another layer of security for their users, Chester Wisniewski, a digital security specialist, told The Washington Post.
Still, there are many things you can do to make web browsing on public airport Wi-Fi as safe as possible: use strong passwords; consider opting for a virtual private network, or VPN; only visit sites with an HTTPS address; use a privacy screen in public; use two-factor authentication; keep your operating system up to date; and log out of apps, websites, and public Wi-Fi when you're finished browsing.
If you have the need for (high) speed, these airports are the way to fly.
