Public WiFi Internet Speeds at Major London Airports Have Got Worse

The quality and performance of Public WiFi Hotspots in the United Kingdom often leaves much to be desired, but if you were expecting it to be better at 5 of the busiest airports around the Greater London area then think again. In fact the speeds have actually got worse!

The latest study, which was conducted by Thinkbroadband during November 2016 and then compared with the results from September 2015, appears to be based off an on-foot visit to the Gatwick (LGW), Heathrow (LHR), Luton (LTN), Stanstead (STN) and London City Airports (LCY).

However, while the country’s fixed broadband and 4G based Mobile Broadband performance might be getting faster, major airports seem to be going in the other direction.

The results should perhaps be taken with a pinch of salt because the study doesn’t clarify what hardware was used, at what time(s) of day the testing was conducted or indeed how many tests were made. Never the less our own personal experience of using free airport WiFi at LGW, LHR and LCY would appear to support TBB’s findings.

On the other hand many airports also offer a choice of different WiFi hotspots (cafes and restaurants etc.), with most being free and others being premium, which means that the performance can vary and sadly these weren’t examined. In other words it’s likely that faster services do exist and thus those who only connect via the airports own free WiFi are unlikely to get the best speeds.

In an ideal world we’d expect London’s airports, which are among the busiest in the world, to be putting more effort into their WiFi infrastructure. Passengers often have to spend a great deal of time waiting for flights, which makes being able to get online an important tool for work or other distractions; especially as mobile (3G and 4G) doesn’t always work as well as we’d like.