INTERNET Speed: Romania higher than U.S.!

[Guest Tenngunner]

This is surprising:

According to Akamai’s Q3 State of the Internet report, the United States’ internet speed did not qualify for a place in the top ten list of countries with the fastest internet in the world, and its average overall speed has actually decreased by 2.4% year-over-year from 2008 to 2009.

The United States actually ranked 18th out of 203 nations tested in terms of average connection speeds, falling behind speed leaders like South Korea, Japan, and Hong Kong.

http://mashable.com/2010/01/16/united-states-internet-speed/

Edited January 17, 2010 by Tenngunner
Formatting.

[Guest db99wj]

Could be that we have had it longer, more people have it, and our technology is older be the reason we are falling behind?

[oldogy]

I can see why we are slower than the 'leaders' you mention. Those 'nations' are much more densely populated than the US. I seriously doubt if the US internet providers are as subsidized as some of the other 'nations'. No, I did not read the article, just went to the site and saw where the good speeds are and are not.

oldogy, who is stuck with satellite internet that is poor on even a good day.

[trblmkr13]

We will continue to slow down until Fiber is brought into neighborhoods the coaxial cable technology is maxed out and it was not designed for 2 way communications

[Guest Tenngunner]

trblmkr:

We will continue to slow down until Fiber is brought into neighborhoods the coaxial cable technology is maxed out and it was not designed for 2 way communications

Yeah, that's a good point-we are being (fairly quickly) 'fiberized' here in Chattanooga, as we speak.

[G27]

I have tons of friends in Europe - most of those countries have far faster speeds availabe.

To really see some thing sobering regarding how we're falling behind the world, check out mobile phones / services worldwide - we're virtually primative in comparison!

[Guest db99wj]

I have tons of friends in Europe - most of those countries have far faster speeds availabe.

To really see some thing sobering regarding how we're falling behind the world, check out mobile phones / services worldwide - we're virtually primative in comparison!

I heard there is an app for that....

[enfield]

I have a fiber-optic cable pedestal in the corner of my yard, belonging to AT&T. They don't offer cable or DSL here, and Comcast doesn't offer cable.

I'm on satellite.

Go figure.

[Guest Sgt. Joe]

Could be that we have had it longer, more people have it, and our technology is older be the reason we are falling behind?

I believe this is pretty much the answer here. That and the coaxial vs Fiber Optic thing. A few years back (01-02?) the Jackson Energy Authority our Elec. Co. ran fiber optic lines to everyone that they served, and at that time they claimed Jackson was one of the "Most Wired" cities in America.

The service is indeed pretty good, I run the lowest speed avail and it works pretty well most of the time. There are still two higher speeds I could get.

With that said and looking at the speed map it does show ALL of TN as being in the FAST area compared to a lot of the rest of the country.

What I found strange was that when our Nat. Grd. unit went to Iraq we pooled our money and bought our own satellite dish and service and that thing was SCREAMING fast, looking at the map there are no hot pink FAST areas anywhere near southern Iraq? The service we had over there was far faster than the one I have now.....go figure that one?

Also as a YMMV idea ones own computer processor is going to have a lot to do with how fast your machine runs no matter how fast your provider is.

As for the cell phones.....Jeeze they have us all by the short ones already as most of us can not and will not ever do without one. What I would love to buy is a cell phone that is JUST a phone. I wonder just what else they can make one do?

All I need one for is to talk on the phone, I have never used any of the apps they have although my last several phones were capable of such things. I will admit to a few text messages but nothing else. Yet it is near time for my "New Every Two" deal and that Droid looks really cool.

The short ones indeed....

[strickj]

Maybe it's because ISP here offer different speeds for different prices.

With Comcast, I was plenty happy with the 55ish a month slower service as I'm sure most are.

If they only provided their fastest for everyone, I'm sure we would be right up there with every other nation.

[Guest bkelm18]

Too much porn. Bogs the system down.

[nightrunner]

I blame Al Gore.