Not LA, Not San Francisco – This US Airport Has The Fastest Wi-Fi

While places like Los Angeles and San Francisco are usually more associated with advanced tech and high-speed internet than smaller urban areas are, the U.S. airport with the fastest Wi-Fi is one of the last you might expect. That honor actually goes to John Glenn Columbus International Airport (CMH) in Columbus, Ohio. According to Ookla, CMH has a median Wi-Fi speed of 263.46 megabits per second (Mbps), putting it far ahead of the Daniel K. Inouye International Airport (HNL) at 197.10 Mbps and Oakland International (OAK) at 194.23 Mbps.

At the very bottom of the list is George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) in Houston, Texas, with a speed of just 21.36 Mbps, closely followed by fellow Houston airport William P. Hobby Airport at 21.67 Mbps. The study also compared Wi-Fi to cellular data speeds from the big three providers (AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon) and found that, at the majority of airports, cellular is faster.

To put all of this in perspective, the average internet speed in the U.S. in 2025 was 214 Mbps — faster than any American airport save for CMH — and experts recommend at least 100 Mbps for the average home. In many places, airport Wi-Fi clearly falls short of travelers' needs, but there are some simple reasons for that, a key one being volume.

As Cisco engineer Matt Swartz explained to the Houston Chronicle, most passengers in 2026 are coming to the airport with multiple data-using devices, which puts a huge strain on the Wi-Fi from people both departing and arriving. It's even worse when you factor in long, international flights, as messages build up on devices used during flights, with Swartz saying, "When they get off the plane, all that data gets dumped onto the network at once."

Another contributing factor is the aging technology of airport Wi-Fi and a lack of funds or interest in fixing it. Many airports are still using Wi-Fi 5, and even some of those who are upgrading remain behind the current tech curve. IAH just recently upgraded to Wi-Fi 6, but with Wi-Fi 6E and Wi-Fi 7 becoming more worthwhile for consumers, plus Wi-Fi 8 on the horizon, even the updated system is going to start showing its age fast.

However, while airport Wi-Fi is notoriously slow, there's not currently much interest in investing in improving it. Airport budgets, funded in large part by government grants, are stretched thin due to aging infrastructure and increased travel demand. These modernization projects to build new terminals, airfields, and related structures are far more pressing, so something like slow Wi-Fi is pretty low on the list. If you're at the airport, you may be better off sticking to your cellular data. In addition to being slower in most places, airport Wi-Fi presents hidden dangers that you need to watch out for. Between the lack of efficiency and security risks, you'll want to think twice before connecting during your next trip.