Technologies

Airports With the Best Free Wi-Fi in the US, According to Ookla

Airport Wi-Fi is often a drag, but a few locations stand above the rest.

Free airport Wi-Fi can be frustrating when you’re trying to download episodes of Netflix’s Old Enough before a six-hour flight. Luckily, the folks over at Ookla, who run the internet speed testing website Speedtest.net, have a new report detailing the best free airport Wi-Fi in the US.

The fastest free airport Wi-Fi in the US isn’t at San Francisco’s SFO, a major hub for tech giants such as Salesforce and Uber. Nor is it at New York’s JFK, the sixth busiest airport in the US. The fastest free Wi-Fi, according to Ookla’s speed tests across airports in the US, comes from San Jose International, which has a median download speed of 203 Mbps. San Jose International’s top placement makes sense as there aremany leading tech companies situated nearby, such as Google, Apple, Meta and Adobe.

Ookla gathered this data from people who use either the Speedtest app or its website to test download speeds.

The second-fastest free airport Wi-Fi is at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, with a median download speed of 177.16 Mbps. In third place is SFO, at 162.38 Mbps, with Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in Honolulu in fourth with a speed of 158.05 Mbps. Oakland International Airport rounds out the top five with a speed of 154.62 Mbps.

With the popularity of YouTube, TikTok, Netflix and Disney Plus, demand for streaming video content is the highest it’s ever been. This demand has forced Netflix to reduce streaming quality in parts of the world as internet service providers don’t have the systems in place to serve the needs of all customers. Airports, too, have been upgrading systems to help meet consumer bandwidth consumption. To illustrate how quickly things have changed, back in 2014, Bush Intercontinental in Houston ranked as having some of the fastest airport Wi-Fi in the world. Now it ranks near the bottom in the US.

The slowest-performing free Wi-Fi is at Pittsburgh International, Ookla said, with a median download speed of 5.23 Mbps. Houston’s major airports, George Bush Intercontinental and William P. Hobby, have speeds of 8.79 and 8.90 Mbps, respectively. Southwest Florida is the fourth slowest free airport Wi-Fi, but sees a significant jump over Houston, at 18.51 Mbps. And Logan International in Boston isn’t significantly faster, at 18.87 Mbps.

Ookla did find that some airport lounges have faster speeds than the general airport area. But gaining access usually requires some special form of membership. Using paid options at airports from companies such as Boingo, Passpoint and Skyfi also showed faster speeds, but varied between airports.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Sunday, May 18

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for May 18.

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword offers up two golf-computer clues, which sound confusing, but are pretty easy once you give them some thought. Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? Read on. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

The Mini Crossword is just one of many games in the Times’ games collection. If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get at those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: Golf shot that’s also a piece of computer hardware
Answer: CHIP

5A clue: Golf shot that’s also a piece of computer hardware
Answer: DRIVE

6A clue: Screenwriter Sorkin
Answer: AARON

7A clue: Nonreactive, chemically
Answer: INERT

8A clue: «Bye-bye!»
Answer: SEEYA

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: Origami bird
Answer: CRANE

2D clue: Person added to the staff
Answer: HIREE

3D clue: Material used to plate the skin of the Parthenon Athena and the statue of Zeus at Olympia
Answer: IVORY

4D clue: Five: Prefix
Answer: PENTA

5D clue: Speaker’s platform
Answer: DAIS

How to play more Mini Crosswords

The New York Times Games section offers a large number of online games, but only some of them are free for all to play. You can play the current day’s Mini Crossword for free, but you’ll need a subscription to the Times Games section to play older puzzles from the archives.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for May 18, #237

Hints and answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, No. 237, for May 18.

Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.

The blue group in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle played on my Gen X heart. If you know your classic video games, you’re golden here. Read on for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is out of beta now, making its debut on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 9. That’s a sign that the game has earned enough loyal players that The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by the Times, will continue to publish it. It doesn’t show up in the NYT Games app but now appears in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can continue to play it free online.

Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta

Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Not lose.

Green group hint: A baseball out.

Blue group hint: Glass Joe.

Purple group hint: Think Chicago.

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: Win

Green group: Strike out

Blue group: Classic sports video games

Purple group: Associated with Michael Jordan.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections: Sports Edition answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is win. The four answers are dub, triumph, victory and W.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is strike out. The four answers are fan, K, ring up and whiff.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is classic sports video games. The four answers are NBA Jam, NFL Blitz, Punch-Out and Tecmo Bowl.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is associated with Michael Jordan. The four answers are 23, 6 rings, His Airness and Last Dance.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for May 18, #707

Hints and answers for Connections for May 18, #707.

Looking for the most recent Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Connections puzzle is a mix of difficult and easy. The purple category does what most purple categories do, and makes you really break down how you think about the words. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.

The Times now has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.

Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time

Hints for today’s Connections groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group, to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: School days.

Green group hint: About there!

Blue group hint: Sure, let’s go.

Purple group hint: The Scarlett Letter.