ORDAirport Guide

Free Wi-Fi at O'Hare: how to connect

O'Hare's Wi-Fi is free and unlimited in every terminal, before and after security. Join the network, open a non-https page, then tap Watch Ad to Connect.

The Brachiosaurus skeleton model rising under the white steel arches and skylights of Concourse B in Terminal 1 at O'Hare.
The Brachiosaurus, Concourse B

O’Hare’s Wi-Fi costs nothing and has no data cap, but it makes you watch an ad before it lets you on. The airport says the service is available throughout all four terminals, before security as well as after.

Connect in these five steps, in this order

The airport’s technology page gives the steps.

  1. Turn the Wi-Fi function on. Supported devices include laptops, tablets and smartphones.
  2. In your Settings or Network Preference menu, pick Boingo Hotspot or _Free_ORD _Wi-Fi.
  3. Open a browser and load a new address that isn’t https.
  4. When the access page loads, find the heading ORD Free Unlimited Wi-Fi.
  5. Choose Watch Ad to Connect.

Step 3 matters because the airport’s page says you must load a new non-https address to make the access page load.

For trouble with the O’Hare network, the airport’s page names Boingo Wireless Customer Care at (800) 880-4117.

Which network name do you pick?

The airport’s page lists both names as options. The airport’s page spells the second one with a space before the last word, as _Free_ORD _Wi-Fi. Our Wi-Fi page spells it without the space. Pick whichever of the two your device shows.

What the airport doesn’t say

The page publishes no speeds. It gives no length for the ad and no limit on how long one connection lasts before you’d watch another. It promises coverage in the terminals and says nothing about the parking garages, the Multi-Modal Facility or the hotel.

If the battery is what’s dying, the airport’s power stations are seated workstations with AC outlets at no charge, and our charging page lists them by gate.

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