With consumers streaming more video online than ever before, having an Internet connection strong enough to handle high quality streams is more important than ever. And seeing as how Netflix is in the business of providing such streams to millions of users across the globe, it’s no surprise that the company knows a thing or two about which ISPs really deliver.
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As noted by Forbes, Netflix “routinely monitors the speed performance of ISPs across the globe to see which ones are performing the best with its video streams during peak viewing periods.” And with this helpful information at its disposal, Netflix has graciously decided to share it with the public via its always updated ISP speed index.
In the United States, the top 15 large ISPs are as follows:
- Cox: 3.62Mbps
- Cablevision – Optimum: 3.59Mbps
- Verizon – FIOS: 3.54Mbps
- Charter: 3.46Mbps
- Comcast: 3.45Mbps
- Bright House: 3.42Mbps
- Suddenlink: 3.42Mbps
- Time Warner Cable: 3.37Mbps
- Mediacom: 3.32Mbps
- AT&T U-Verse: 3.2Mbps
- AT&T DSL: 2.51Mbps
- Frontier: 2.37Mbps
- Windstream: 2.34Mbps
- Centurylink: 2.27Mbps
- Verizon DSL: 1.9Mbps
Notably, eight out of the fastest ISPs in the U.S. rely on cable, with Verizon FIOS being the lone exception.
Of course, if we expand the list to include smaller ISPs, the results look markedly different.
Not only does Google Fiber jump to the top of the list with speeds of 3.82Mbps, but Comcast falls to 14 while AT&T DSL drops all the way down to 45.
All told, if you head on over to Netflix’s ISP Speed Index, you can check out which ISPs are the fastest and the slowest across 30 countries. Even if you’re not a Netflix subscriber, it’s handy information to have if you’re looking to get the most bang for your buck which choosing a internet service provider.
As a point of interest, the country with both the highest and highest average Internet speed is Switzerland where the top ISP tops out at 4.19Mbps. Further, the country average in Switzerland checks in at a remarkably impressive 4.08Mbps. Interestingly, Switzerland’s slowest ISP is faster than the top ISP in the United States (Tele2’s 3.97Mbps vs Google Fiber’s 3.82Mbps.)
