Travel through RDU may be slower this week, but Wi-Fi in the terminals is faster
With a record number of travelers expected through Raleigh-Durham International Airport this Thanksgiving week, getting to your flight might take a little longer than usual, particularly on Tuesday, Wednesday and Sunday.
But there is something at RDU that might be faster than you remembered: the internet.
After years of complaints about balky connections and slow speeds, the airport has overhauled the free internet service in the terminals. RDU says it spent $100,000 on equipment, systems and internet providers, adding wireless access points to improve coverage and circuits to increase bandwidth from 5 megabits per second to 50.
Since RDU rolled out the new service in late September, travelers have logged in more than 267,00 times with almost no complaints, a stark contrast to before the upgrades, according to spokeswoman Stephanie Hawco.
RDU’s Wi-Fi service won accolades in 2011, when PCWorld magazine declared it the nation’s best, a distinction tempered by the relatively slow download speeds at most airports at the time. And while speeds were relatively good at RDU, travelers also had to pay to use the internet — $7.49 for 24 hours of access.
The airport arranged for internet provider Boingo to begin offering free service in the summer of 2012, but there were drawbacks. Users were shown video advertising before they could begin their session, which would automatically end after 45 minutes. Logging back in meant watching another commercial.
As travelers increasingly came to expect and rely on public Wi-Fi, the problems with RDU’s system became more irksome. In a survey in late 2016 and early 2017, passengers were asked to rate more than a dozen aspects of the airport, including food and the cleanliness of restrooms. Passengers gave the lowest marks to the Wi-Fi.
The chief complaint with Boingo was difficulty connecting, Hawco said. New access points in the terminals and a new customer portal have all but eliminated those problems, she said. RDU owns and manages the Wi-Fi service, which the airport says should allow it to deal with problems faster.
RDU expects more than 290,000 travelers to pass through the airport this week, about 3% more than the same week last year. Airport officials say Sunday could be the busiest single day in the airport’s history, with 232 scheduled flights carrying an estimated 54,000 passengers in and out of the Triangle.
Airport officials urge people to arrive two hours before their scheduled departure and three hours early for international flights. Travelers can book a parking spot in advance or simply determine which lots and decks have available parking by going to www.rdu.com/parking before they leave for the airport. The recent painting work that has closed off portions of the parking deck will be suspended from Tuesday through Jan. 6 to accommodate the busier holiday traffic.
This story was originally published November 25, 2019 at 4:26 PM.
