How fast is your Internet connection? Top US speeds revealed.
Newscom
The US may be well behind South Korea and Japan in terms of Internet speeds. But Delaware is closing in. The "First State" comes out on top of a recent nationwide review of connection speeds, with almost double the average US data rate.
Delaware's average download speed hits 9.9 megabits per second (mbps), according to a new study by the Communications Workers of America that used SpeedMatters.org's analysis tools. The US average is 5.1 mbps, a quarter of South Korea's 20.4 mbps and a third of Japan's 15.8 mbps, the Los Angeles Times reports.
So how did the other states fare? The Northeast grabs most of the top spots, while the less-populated Northwest slumps along. Here's the top and bottom five:
1. Delaware – 9.9
2. Rhode Island – 9.8
3. New Jersey – 8.9
4. Massachusetts – 8.7
5. New York – 8.4
46. Hawaii – 3.0
47. Wyoming – 2.6
48. Idaho – 2.6
49. Alaska – 2.3
50. Montana – 2.3
This report included D.C. (6.9 mbps) and bottomed out with the Virgin Islands (1.1 mbps) and Puerto Rico (1.0 mbps).
"The study also pointed to the relatively slow rate at which the average US broadband speed rose in recent years, gaining only about 1.6 mpbs since May 2007," says the LA Times, which published more state rankings. "That was a much slower increase than was seen in the US states with the fastest speeds."
Curious about your own score? Speedtest.net runs a quick, free Internet speedometer. The site clocks your current download and upload rates. Now that I think of it, let the races begin! Post your scores in the comments.
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[Editor's note: The original version of this article misstated who delivered the speed stats for the study. It was SpeedMatters.org.]