The Fastest Internet In America Is In Virginia

Lauren Keating, Tech Times 08 August 2014, 04:08 pm

The days of slow dial-up speeds are fast behind us, but if you are still impatiently waiting for your videos to stream, moving down south is your best bet. According to a map created by the communications and cloud service Broadview Networks, Virginia has the country's fastest Internet service.

Virginia's Internet speed has an average of 13.7 megabits per second (Mbps) based on data from Akami's "State of the Internet" report published in June. States were ranked as being "high broadband" locations if it had an average speed higher than 10 Mbps. "Low broadband" states were categorized as having speeds lower than 4 Mbps.

26 states in total met the high broadband requirements. While Virginia was the top ranked state for speed, Alaska ranked the slowest speed with 7 Mbps. Other slow states included Kentucky, Montana and Arkansas with an average of 7.3 Mbps.

Northeast states--excluding Maine--all show to have fast Internet speeds. Delaware and Massachusetts tied as the second fastest states with 13.1 Mbps. Rhode Island with 12.9 Mbps and Washington D.C. with 12.9 Mbps followed.

The U.S. as a whole has an average of 10.5 Mbps, ranking number 10 when compared to other countries. South Korea took home the honor of fastest Internet speed with an average of 23.6 Mbps.

Fast Internet speed is essential when streaming videos online. Communications company Level 3 has accused unnamed internet service providers for slowing down its broadband access on purpose in the past. Level 3 is known for helping connect providers such as AT&T and Comcast Corporation.

Netflix has also complained that Comcast and Verizon slowed down streaming so that the company would have to pay more for efficient delivery of their videos. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) banned Internet service providers from blocking websites or charging companies more for content streaming.

Netflix has its own Internet speed index for service providers. Netflix ranks Cablevision Optimum as the highest speed in the U.S. with 3.10 Mbps and Verizon DSL the lowest with 0.91 Mbps.