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2018 Speedtest U.S. Fixed Broadband Performance Report by Ookla
With gigabit expanding across the nation, fixed broadband speeds in the United States are rapidly increasing. Speedtest® data reveals a 35.8% increase in mean download speed during the last year and a 22.0% increase in upload speed. As a result, the U.S. ranks 7th in the world for download speed, between Hungary and Switzerland. The U.S. ranks 27th for upload, between Bulgaria and Canada, during Q2-Q3 2018. Though 5G looms on the mobile horizon, fixed broadband speeds in the U.S. continue to outpace those on mobile showing both faster speeds and greater increases in speed.
During Q2-Q3 2018, the average download speed over fixed broadband in the U.S. was 95.25 Mbps. Average upload speed was 32.88 Mbps. [...] According to Speedtest Intelligence data for Q2-Q3 2018, Comcast was the fastest provider in the U.S. with their XFINITY Internet receiving a Speed Score™ of 104.67.
Mean download speeds varied widely across the U.S. during Q2-Q3 2018 with the fastest state (New Jersey) coming in 139.8% faster than the slowest (Maine). The East Coast fared well with 5 states (New Jersey, Massachusetts, Maryland, Delaware and Rhode Island) and the District of Columbia ranking in the top ten. [...] Kansas City, Missouri topped the fixed chart as the fastest city in the U.S. during Q2-Q3 2018 with an average download speed of 159.19 Mbps. [...] Memphis, Tennessee came in last with an average download of 44.86 Mbps and Laredo, Texas was second to last at 55.37.
On average, U.S. consumers should have few complaints about recent increases in internet speeds. [...] As ISPs continue to build out their fiber networks and gigabit-level speeds expand we only expect to see internet speeds increase across the U.S. We'll check back in next year to see if all parts of the nation are experiencing the same improvements or if some states fall even farther behind.
Should consumers look forward to hitting their data caps now faster than ever, or are data caps being rolled back on gigabit connections?
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Thursday December 13 2018, @06:50PM (5 children)
Average speed, nationwide, is abysmal. So, a few super-fast lines are installed, thereby raising the overall average speed? Well, that's wonderful, if you happen to live in those three towns with super-fast, but all the rest of us still live with 2MB, or 10MB, or whatever.
Maybe I'm being a little bit unfair. Maybe. There is fiber being installed in some of the backwoods towns around me. But, so long as I suffer with 2MB, it's all meaningless to me.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by The Mighty Buzzard on Thursday December 13 2018, @07:01PM
My backwoods TN town's provider just started offering gigabit for $50/month ($15/month less than I'm paying for 100Mbps); no caps either hard or soft. Same ISP that has doubled my speeds twice in three years without a price increase and dropped the price on the year it didn't. That, my friends, is how you build customer loyalty.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 13 2018, @07:21PM
This result is biased in two ways. First is that it uses the mean, as opposed the median, or even a geometric or harmonic mean. It is a much bigger difference to move from 1Mbps to 2Mbps than it is from 20Mbps to 21Mbps, but they both have the same weight here.
Secondly, the kind of people who test their speeds are those who are more likely to have fast internet. Most people aren't going to test it unless they are getting slower than they feel they should or to confirm they are going fast. Once you confirm you are going fast, there isn't a need to check it again and if you are too slow, you'd call your ISP to fix it, who will then run a speed test once fixed. Therefore, the data will be biased to the last speed test, which is more likely to be fast.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by JoeMerchant on Friday December 14 2018, @02:02AM
In Florida they laid a high capacity fiber backbone down US-17, straight through many "backwoods" towns with populations around 10,000 each. It was YEARS before they saw any access through this fiber (though they also laid a gas pipeline along the same route at about the same time which did benefit the locals by ending the streak of acid-rain making sulfur coming out of the coal fired powerplant, when it was taken offline in favor of a cleaner gas burner.)
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 14 2018, @04:30AM (1 child)
I would love a cheap low bandwidth option. Something like 2-10Mb $5 - $10 per month. I had ~10Mb down plan through Charter (quite a bit more than $10/mo), but they refused to renew it, stating it did not meet their new minimum speed standards... oh, and the new minimum plan costs 50% more. Guy on phone said, "You don't have a choice." I said, "Yes I do. Please cancel my service."
Been without internet service, at home, for a few years now (also affected some of the neighbors in the public housing across the street that used to use the open wifi I put up). Tethering works pretty well for low-bandwidth sites like Soylent.
But, it would suck to be in Runaway's situation too-- being willing to spend more, but having nothing better offered.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Friday December 14 2018, @03:35PM
I haven't seen $10 internet since dialup, 56k modems. My 2MB costs more than people in Philadelphia are paying for fiber optic. If I were only paying ten, fifteen, or twenty dollars per month, I wouldn't be so terribly pissed.