Free wifi is becoming more and more common at hotels, due to popular demand. Study after study shows that both fast and free Wifi is extremely important to all travelers, yet not all hotels have tuned in yet. Millennials especially expect Wifi to be fast and studies show that they even choose their hotels based on connectivity.
After looking at a study released this year by HotelWifiTest I was truly disappointed to find that 79% of countries have better wifi than the US. That’s pretty terrible!
The report includes a ton of data about the different countries. Here are some graphics from the study –
Which cities fared the best in the US test? Here are the results –
Even with “Premium” Wifi often offered by different hotel loyalty programs for those with elite status, I often find myself frustrated when I’m trying to work and everything I do online is painfully slow.
What can you do to find out the WiFi speed in your hotel?
This is where the Hotel Wifi Test app comes in. It can be used to do a speed test while in a hotel, and also offers a snapshot of hotel download speed so you can research before you even book your hotel.
You can follow this link to download the Hotel WiFi Test app, which is free.
Once you download it, the process is easy. You open the app, it asks if you are currently in a hotel, and if not you can search speeds of properties. If you are, you can just click the button to start the speed test.
I’m currently staying at my favorite property in Italy, the Hotel Sirmione. The guest room balconies are right on the lake and the views are stunning, but the wifi is often slower than a snail. I find myself contorted near the closet to hold the laptop up high since that is the place that seems to offer the fastest connection!
I went to my Hotel WiFi app and tested the speed just now, and the results weren’t promising. In fact, I was unable to run the app at all for a while and I kept getting the message that I needed to connect to the internet first. Finally I was able to connect and at least start the test.
Finally, I tried again and got results that looked much better.
There is no way to stop the fluctuations in connectivity since the room is far away from the router, but at least it lets me know what an average speed is.
What’s the WiFi speed like in your hotel?
I just tried it and so far it looks good. I am assuming that the hotel tests are being anonymously stored for reference
Dublin_rfk I think you are correct. If you select on the site that you are not in a hotel and browse other properties, most likely the anonymous info adds to this data.