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ZDNET’s key takeaways
- Cellular access is faster than Wi-Fi at most US airports.
- A full 70% of US airport Wi-Fi networks still use Wi-Fi 5.
- Run a speed test at your local airport to see which is faster.
Here’s a common scenario for many travelers. You’re at an airport waiting for your flight. You want to hop online with your mobile phone to stream a movie, play an online game, or download some apps. Your first instinct is to connect to the airport’s Wi-Fi. But that may not be your best option. Have you ever tried your mobile carrier instead?
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Yes, cellular could provide faster service compared with Wi-Fi, according to the latest data from Speedtest provider Ookla. To conduct its research, Ookla analyzed Speedtest user data for median download speeds at 50 of the top US airports for the first half of 2025. The testing compared Wi-Fi coverage against that of mobile carriers AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon.
The verdict? Cellular download speeds averaged around 219.24 Mbps, while Wi-Fi came in at only 101.39 Mbps.
Comparing the 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 tied. 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 beat Wi-Fi. At Chicago’s Midway, the median download speed was 944.01 Mbps with AT&T and 122.53 Mbps with local Wi-Fi. At Sacramento International, the median download speed was 726.19 Mbps with T-Mobile and 107.84 Mbps with Wi-Fi. And at Indianapolis International, the download speed was 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 faster than cellular in around a third of all the tests against a specific mobile carrier. But compared with all three major mobile carriers, Wi-Fi was faster in only five airports.
At Houston’s George Bush International, the median download speed was a paltry 4.77 Mbps with AT&T and 21.36 Mbps with local Wi-Fi. At Oakland International, the median download speed was 28.58 Mbps with T-Mobile and 194.23 Mbps with Wi-Fi. And at Orlando International, the download speed was 27.35 Mbps with Verizon and 102.38 Mbps with airport Wi-Fi.
Here’s another interesting tidbit from the report. Network service provider Boingo is a common Wi-Fi option at many airports, and apparently for good reason. Boingo-powered Wi-Fi averaged download speeds of 110.30 Mbps compared to non-Boingo airports at 88.38 Mbps.
Why is airport Wi-Fi so slow?
Out of curiosity, I checked JFK, the airport I typically use in New York. Here, the results differed by carrier. The download speed for airport Wi-Fi was 148.38 Mbps. The speed for Verizon was 172.59 Mbps, the speed for T-Mobile was 97.85 Mbps, and the speed for AT&T was 80.17 Mbps. Cellular would be the better option for me as I’m a Verizon customer, but not so for T-Mobile and AT&T subscribers.
With Wi-Fi often touted as faster than cellular access, 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 the airport Wi-Fi connections examined by Ookla were still using Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac), which came out in 2013. Why don’t more airports upgrade to a better Wi-Fi version? Quite simply, the cost and effort required to upgrade an airport’s entire network are much greater than simply replacing a home router.
Furthermore, airports may be focusing less on sheer download speeds and more on maintaining stable connections and serving multiple users simultaneously.
Here’s the bottom line:
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“For the millions of passengers traveling through US airports, this analysis offers a clear strategy: Don’t assume the free Wi-Fi is your best option,” Ookla said in its report.
“This isn’t to denigrate Wi-Fi’s performance, which in most airports is more than satisfactory, and again, free (well, ad-supported, frequently). For mobile-first travelers, already paying for unlimited data, the sunk cost economics of downloading over cellular is also free. But also, this isn’t a false-choice fallacy — both options are waiting for you to use. Run a Speedtest to see which to select.”
That last bit of advice is worth following. Not sure whether to pick Wi-Fi or cellular the next time you’re at the airport? Head to Ookla’s Speedtest page using one and then the other to see which is faster.
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