Which Airports Have Free WiFi?

Many airports around the country are adding Free WiFi high speed internet access as a courtesy for travelers. Connectivity varies widely, and may be limited to a certain terminal or in the larger waiting areas, but nothing helps pass time time while waiting for a flight than the ability to connect to the internet and check your email, or take a quick look at some free news websites.

Finding WiFi is a relatively easy process. Both Windows and Mac PCs have the capability to search for open access points built right into the operating system. One of the simplest ways to discover if the airport you are in has free WiFi - is simply to power up your laptop and have the operating system that you are running search for available open access points. If you don't see anything available in the spot where you are, then it is advisable to move around to a different location within the airport. Often access points transmit on very low power and reception can be very dependent on your location relative to the access point.

Airline lounges are a great place to find WiFi service. If you are lucky enough to have a membership to an airline club lounge then it would be worthwhile to start your connectivity search there. Among the major US Carriers, Continental, US Airways, American, and United all offer some form of wireless connectivity in their lounges.

If you are not fortunate enough to have a club membership, or don't travel enough to justify a membership, you still are in luck. Most major destination airports around the country offer free access. Some of the more heavily traveled airports that offer free WiFi connectivity are; Orlando International, JFK International, Charlotte Douglas International, Las Vegas McCarran, and Reagan National. Unfortunately for Dallas, Chicago and LAX, you will have to rely on the airlines, as of now, since those airports don't yet offer free wireless connectivity. More and more major airports are adding connectivity almost daily.

Since most public accessible wifi connections are not encrypted it is important to remember some basic safety tips. First make sure that your computer has an active firewall turned on. Most modern PC operating systems, like windows, come with a firewall built in. Make sure that what ever web site you are connecting to, you turn off cookies being stored. If you are connecting to a webmail service be sure that you turn on encryption. Remember that since you are on a public connection, it is a good practice to not transmit confidential information like social security numbers, or credit card numbers. Lastly, if your employer provides you with a VPN (secured encrypted tunnel) connection you should use it.