Airbnb's New Tool Lets People Check Wi-Fi Speeds Before They Book

There are a lot of people who frequently travel for work. While many of those people choose to stay in a regular hotel room, some opt for more comfort and the ability to cook for themselves by staying in a short-term rental booked via Airbnb. Anyone traveling and trying to work with increased reliance on virtual meetings like Teams wants to know if the place they are staying has available Internet and Wi-Fi.

More than just knowing the place they are renting has Wi-Fi, users want to know how fast it is. Airbnb has added a new tool catering specifically to those who are working or going to school when they're traveling. Utilizing the new tool, people can check the Wi-Fi speed in the Airbnb listing before they book their stay.

Knowing exactly how fast the Wi-Fi speed is gives a good indication of how the wireless network in the rental will perform for virtual meetings, learning, gaming, and uploading large files. Airbnb says the point of the new tool is to give guests peace of mind that where they're staying can support all of their connected needs. Hosts have been able to manually add Wi-Fi speeds to their listings previously.

The new tool provides an easy and efficient in-app solution to allow guests to measure Wi-Fi speeds directly from the Airbnb app. Hosts can also leverage the tool to check their connection speed within the app and have the Wi-Fi speed information posted on the listing page. The goal is to make anyone looking for a place to stay comfortable that they will be able to do the things they enjoy or have to do that requires online access.

Airbnb says the new in-app feature uses M-Lab's open-source software to measure download speeds. The new feature has begun rolling out in-app Internet speed testing in the US and plans to expand the feature globally in the coming weeks.