Airbnb unveils new tool enabling guests to check WiFi speed in listings

As the work-from-anywhere trend continues, being able to determine a listing’s WiFi speed before booking is a key feature for digital nomads

After a year into the pandemic, most office workers in the Philippines have realized one thing: you don’t need to work out of an office cubicle. Some who have grown weary of being cooped indoors are now catching up with what digital nomads have been doing for a while – calling beachside villas, mountain cabins and countryside stays their new offices.

As the flexibility to work and live from anywhere continues to grow, being able to determine a listing’s wifi speed before booking is a must-have not only for digital nomads, but also for remote workers, creatives, road schoolers, traveling families, gamers, etc. 

Guests want peace of mind that their stays can support their connection needs. Whether Zooming with colleagues, streaming an update, working on online documents,  or catching up with family on video chat, fast and stable internet is more crucial than ever.

While Hosts have been able to manually add WiFi speeds to their listing descriptions for some time, Airbnb is now providing an easy and efficient in-app solution to allow them to measure the WiFi speed in their listing using the Airbnb app.

Hosts can test their listing’s connection speed right within the app, and easily have their wifi speed information posted on their listing page, making their listings more appealing to guests looking for connected stays:

This feature uses M-Lab’s open source software to measure download speeds. Airbnb has begun rolling out in-app internet speed testing in the US, and will roll out the new function globally in the coming weeks.