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ZDNET Highlights
- Cellular access is faster than Wi-Fi at most US airports.
- Fully 70% of US airport Wi-Fi networks still use Wi-Fi 5.
- Run a speed test at your local airport to see who is faster.
Here is a common scenario for many travelers. You are at the airport and waiting for your flight. You want to go online with your mobile phone to stream a movie, play online games or download some apps. Your first instinct is to connect to the airport Wi-Fi. But that may not be your best option. Have you ever tried your mobile carrier instead?
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Yes, cellular can provide faster service than Wi-Fi Latest data from speedtest provider OoklaTo conduct its research, Ookla analyzed Speedtest user data for average download speeds at 50 of the top US airports for the first half of 2025, The test compared Wi-Fi coverage with mobile carriers AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon,
Decision? Cellular download speeds averaged around 219.24 Mbps, while Wi-Fi only came in at 101.39 Mbps.
Comparison of Top 3 Carriers
Among the three major US carriers, Verizon took the top spot with 34 airports where its coverage was faster than Wi-Fi and two where it was on tie. T-Mobile’s network was faster than Wi-Fi in 32 airports. AT&T was faster in 28 airports, including one tie.
The report highlighted several examples where cellular outperformed Wi-Fi. In Chicago’s Midway, the average download speed was 944.01 Mbps with AT&T and 122.53 Mbps with local Wi-Fi. At Sacramento International, the average download speed was 726.19 Mbps with T-Mobile and 107.84 Mbps with Wi-Fi. And at Indianapolis International, download speeds were 1,267.05 Mbps with Verizon and 51.35 Mbps with airport Wi-Fi.
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The results naturally varied by airport. Wi-Fi proved to be faster than cellular in about a third of all tests against a specific mobile carrier. But only five airports had fast Wi-Fi, compared with all three major mobile carriers.
At Houston’s George Bush International, the average download speed was 4.77 Mbps with AT&T and 21.36 Mbps with local Wi-Fi. At Oakland International, the average download speed was 28.58 Mbps with T-Mobile and 194.23 Mbps with Wi-Fi. And at Orlando International, download speeds were 27.35 Mbps with Verizon and 102.38 Mbps with airport Wi-Fi.
Here’s another interesting thing from the report. Network service provider Boingo is a common Wi-Fi option at many airports, and obviously for good reason. Boingo-powered Wi-Fi has an average download speed of 110.30 Mbps, compared to 88.38 Mbps at non-Boingo airports.
Why is airport Wi-Fi so slow?
Out of curiosity, I checked JFK, the airport I usually use in New York. Here, results varied by carrier. The download speed of airport Wi-Fi was 148.38 Mbps. Verizon’s speed was 172.59 Mbps, T-Mobile’s speed was 97.85 Mbps, and AT&T’s speed was 80.17 Mbps. Cellular would be a better option for me since I’m a Verizon customer, but that’s not the case for T-Mobile and AT&T customers.
Wi-Fi is often touted as faster than cellular access, but why is airport Wi-Fi so slow in comparison? Ookla cited a few factors.
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Airport Wi-Fi doesn’t necessarily use the latest and greatest standards. In fact, 70% of airport Wi-Fi connections tested by Ookla were still using Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac), which came out in 2013. Why don’t more airports upgrade to better Wi-Fi versions? Simply put, the cost and effort required to upgrade an airport’s entire network is far greater than replacing a home router.
Furthermore, airports are focusing less on download speeds only and more on maintaining a stable connection and serving multiple users simultaneously.
Here’s the bottom line:
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“For the millions of travelers traveling through U.S. airports, this analysis offers a clear strategy: Don’t assume free Wi-Fi is your best option,” Ookla said in its report.
“This is not to denigrate Wi-Fi performance, which is more than satisfactory in most airports, and again, free (well, ad-supported, often). For mobile-first travelers, who are already paying for unlimited data, the sunk cost economics of downloading over cellular is also free. But at the same time, this is not a false-choice fallacy – both options are waiting for you to use them. It’s worth seeing. Run a speedtest to see which one to choose.”
That last piece of advice is worth following. Not sure whether to choose Wi-Fi or cellular the next time you’re at the airport? go towards Ookla’s speedtest page Using one and then the other to see who is faster.
