Airport cellphone coverage? Depends where you are

Brendan Rys says he's on the road all the time for work. He's also on his mobile devices all the time, which is why he finds the inconsistencies of coverage at U.S. airports perplexing.

The Worcester, Mass., asset protection manager finds that his AT&T iPad works well at most airports. His T-Mobile phone works well, too, unless he is at Chicago O'Hare, where it barely works at all.

"Inability to get coverage is frustrating, coupled with the fact that more often than not the Wi-Fi is unusable as well," he says. "So when you have neither, it's impossible to get any work done. "

A new study by RootMetrics, an independent company that tests mobile carrier network performance, confirms Rys' assessment of the state of cellular coverage at 50 of the busiest U.S. airports.

While the study says data performance from mobile networks improved in the first half of this year, the speed and reliability varied by airport and carrier.

For instance, Verizon generally offered faster speeds and more reliability than other networks at the five busiest airports, except for Denver International, where T-Mobile performed best.

RootMetrics evaluates mobile network performance at the busiest U.S. airports twice a year. A team tests off-the-shelf smartphones at various airport locations, including ticketing and baggage claim. The team captures download and upload speeds and performance during activities such as checking emailing and using apps. In addition to speed, testers rate reliability or whether or not passengers can connect to the network and remain connected.

"This is an area where you see people using their phones really, really often," says Julie Dey, vice president of RootMetrics. "It's a place where you're waiting around for your flight, passing the time doing business. You want to make sure you're connected."

The airport with the best mobile network connectivity was Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International, the busiest airport in the world with more than 96 million annual passengers.

Rounding out the top five were five much smaller airports: Cleveland Hopkins International, Southwest Florida International, San Jose International and Dallas Love Field.

Michele Dynia, acting communications manager at Cleveland Airport Systems, says all the major carriers have numerous towers along each side of the terminal and airfield. Since June 2014, Cleveland's airport has had 7.4 million passengers, she says.

"Alongside this, we reduce congestion on carrier networks through our free Wi-Fi offering," she says. "Passengers choosing to use our internet connection … free up capacity and bandwidth for cellular connections."

On the other end of the spectrum, Nashville International ranked at the very bottom in terms of mobile network performance. San Diego International, Los Angeles International, Honolulu International and Philadelphia International joined Nashville in the bottom five.

Shannon Sumrall, corporate communications manager at Nashville International, says the airport will spend $3 to $5 million to build a Distributed Antenna System (DAS) to improve network service within the terminals.

Distributed Antenna Systems are used to improve coverage in large buildings by spacing out small antennas throughout to take care of troublesome pockets.

The airport will break ground on the project soon, she says.

"The interim has been a challenge," she says. "We have heard our passengers' complaints and are actively working to correct the issue."

Rebecca Bloomfield, senior public relations specialist at San Diego International, says the airport is also installing a Distributed Antenna System. That project is scheduled for completion in November.

Bloomfield also points out that the airport, which had 18.7 million passengers in 2014, offers 30 minutes of complimentary Wi-Fi in the terminals.

Los Angeles International, meanwhile, does not have a (DAS) that covers mobile devices in the terminals, says Nancy Castles, the airport's public relations director.

"So, we're aware of passenger complaints about slow mobile device speeds," she says.

As a result, the airport has a request for proposal out for a provider of a DAS/cellular system.

In the meantime, the airport has a contract with Boingo that makes high-speed Wi-Fi available for free. A new agreement with the company will provide free Wi-Fi at a minimum speed of 5 Mbps, which Castles says is among the highest at U.S. airports. The infrastructure required by that new contract is set to be operational this fall.

RootMetrics also named Verizon as the top mobile carrier because it outperformed competitors at 29 of the 50 airports. T-Mobile was a close second, followed by AT&T and Sprint.

Bryan Shaw, a corporate business manager in San Jose, has a Verizon cellphone and AT&T iPad. He notices differences in the coverage he gets on each when at an airport.

"Many times I have to put my iPad down and pick up my cellphone to read emails," he says.

AT&T spokesman Fletcher Cook says the company has enhanced coverage at 34 airports with a Distributed Antenna System.

"We recognize how important it is for busy travelers to have a fast, reliable wireless service while they're on the move," he says.

Sprint spokeswoman Adrienne Norton says this week, the company went live with a new indoor wireless system at Baltimore-Washington International Airport. Sprint has also recently upgraded service at Las Vegas McCarran International, Orlando International, Miami International and Washington Reagan National in Virginia.

Right now, the company is expanding coverage into new garages and terminal areas at Charlotte Douglas International. More upgrades are in store for other airports, including Atlanta, later this year.

"We're working hard to improve our airport systems across the country and we're making progress," Norton says.

Despite outranking its competitors in the RootMetrics report, Verizon keeps working on improving coverage at airports, says director of corporate communications Kelly Crummey.

At Miami International, for instance, Verizon completed an advanced in-building wireless system to boost high-speed wireless capacity and coverage. The DAS includes hundreds of small antenna units and other technology installed throughout terminals, gates, baggage claim and other areas.

"Sustained investment over many years is the most important thing," she says.

T-Mobile spokesman Viet Nguyen says that in the time RootMetrics conducted its study, T-Mobile added LTE coverage for more than 30 million people. He says that surveys such as Root's "are beginning to see the ever-improving results our customers see every day."