Fastest ISP in the USA

[ DSL vs Cable vs Fiber-Optic speed tests ] [ Broadband fastest ISP ]

In 2008, PC Magazine conducted a study in order to determine which broadband ISPs in the USA are the fastest, have the most satisfied customers and, in the long run, the best.

To test ISP speed, they've used SurfSpeed, a free software that grabs pages and its elements from popular sites and then measures actual Internet surfing speed (not the bandwidth allocation that ISP quotes). Also SurfSpeed polled users on satisfaction with their Internet service provider. The database consisted of over 200,000 tests collected from more than 17,000 unique IP addresses - enough for conclusions.

The most useful is that they studied not only overall averages of nationwide ISPs, but took "a long, hard look at each state in the country, because fast overall service doesn't translate into fast local service".

The article about the research is large enough, with links to PDF charts, available only to registered users. Below are the most important facts about speed and satisfaction.

Broadband ISP speed test results

Broadband fastest ISP
The fastest ISPs are fiber-optic service Verizon FiOS and Optimum Online, that uses fiber-rich network as a backbone. They are 152% faster than DSL and cable averaged.

Slowest broadband
Satellite ISPs average speed is just 145 kilobits per second (Kbps). That's only about 3 times faster than good dial-up.
DSL and cable ISPs, taken as a whole, are more than 5 times faster than satellite.

Pay attention that Speed (Kbps)^* in the charts below means average surfing speed, counted with SurfSpeed utility overall US states.

What is the fastest Cable ISP?

What is the fastest DSL ISP?

FrontierNet DSL with its average 698 Kbps is the third-fastest DSL among regional (not nationwide) services.

Is Cable faster than DSL?
The average cable ISP gets you online at 688 Kbps, while the average DSL service lets surfing at just 469 Kbps. Thus, cable ISPs, on average, are 47% faster than DSL ones. Even the slowest cable ISP was faster than any other DSL ISP in this study. That clearly answers to the question "Which is faster DSL or Cable?".

Pennsylvania is the third-fastest, mainly because of FiOS services penetration.

New Mexico is the slowest state. Qwest DSL performed there at 381 Kbps, while EarthLink at 277 Kbps.

User satisfaction

Satisfaction ratings were based on user-reported data in the SurfSpeed utility, which includes a 5-item satisfaction index. Users who rated themselves as "Extremely Satisfied" or "Very Satisfied" are referred to the category of "satisfied". Dissatisfied users include those who rated themselves as either "Somewhat Satisfied" or "Not Satisfied."

The most satisfied are users of fiber-optic ISPs, such as Verizon FiOS (71%) and Optimum Online (61%).

The most dissatisfied are users of HughesNet (74%) and other satellite ISPs (57%). Another "leader" in users dissatisfaction is Earthlink DSL (58%).

Only 3 states had more than 50% of satisfied users - Maine (62%),
Rhode Island (57%) and Utah (51%).

Conclusions

Faster is always better! The most satisfied are users of the fastest type of the ISPs - fiber-optic. Definitely, the future of non-wireless broadband is fiber-optic.

The fastest ISP, based on Cable technology, is Optimum Online.
The fastest ISP, based on DSL technology, is FrontierNet.

More densely populated areas across the USA reported better and faster ISP service on the test.

For more details, state-by-state data and local ISP performance, read the full article: The Fastest ISP in America.

To test your own ISP speed go to Speed Tests page.

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