Two-thirds of Americans surf the Web at less than 10Mbps

[A Guy]

Despite Internet speed improvements in nearly every state, most US residents are still surfing the Web at less than 10Mbps, according to Akamai's latest State of the Internet Report.

Drawing data from Akamai's globally distributed network of servers, the report covering Q3 2013 put the US in 9th place worldwide in the proportion of residents with "high broadband," or at least 10Mbps average download speeds:

Source

A Guy

 

[jimbo45]

Hi there
Casual surfing doesn't need very fast Internet speeds -- Watching things like HD movies does -- so I suppose it depends on what you mean by "surfing" the net.

Even remote home working to a lot of Office back end applications doesn't require superfast Internet speeds either (unless a lot of multi-media content at HD quality is being streamed).

A lot of the "Super fast" speeds advertised are basically just marketing hype -- rather like the old Mega pixel race in Digital cameras.

My problem with a lot of the current providers is that it's usually an "all or nothing" type package irrespective of what you really need -- for instance I'd be quite happy with slowish (say 3 - 5 mb) speed Mon to Fri -- but at weekend I'd want as fast as I can get for movie downloads etc etc -- especially if this type of access was offered at a cheap price.

Fortunately most of our packages in Europe are essentially Unlimited Bandwidth - which is far from the case in the USA == no point in having a 50 mb Internet speed if you only have say a 50GB download limit !!!

I rather suspect that most people would also prefer an unlimited bandwidth type of plan even if it wasn't as fast as the latest mega fast stuff - but choice is sometimes limited.

Decent 4G speeds these days in any case reduce a lot of people's reliance on traditional Internet access --especially as it's simple to use your smartphone as an Internet access point for your PC --which would be a lot faster than a slow conventional connection --especially with unlimited 4G data plans.

Cheers
jimbo

 

[Fantail]

Hi there
...
Even remote home working to a lot of Office back end applications doesn't require superfast Internet speeds either (unless a lot of multi-media content at HD quality is being streamed).

Cheers
jimbo

I have been trying to convince the powers that be at work of this very fact. My efforts seem to be futile though, just considering what one could save in fuel - lost travel time - road rage.

 

[M1GU31]

I only surf under 10Mbps because there is no faster service in my area or else I would. Only have dsl in my area :huh: . I would have to move to town if I wanted better service. Not that far from town like barely on the outside area even some schools near by yet they don't have any faster service so i'm stuck with att dsl and can't even upgrade to say like u-verse if i wanted to and comcast is too expensive. So we're stuck with dsl until we move or they bring service over here.

 

[carwiz]

The way I looks at it is you're lucky to have DSL. I'm out in the sticks without so much as cable TV. I was on dialup until about six years ago when my ISP offered a wireless setup. I had checked on satellite but it was just too expensive and dies if a puffy cloud goes over. I went with the wireless. I get 2.5-3Mbs on downloads and about 1-1.5Mbs upload depending on how many folks are on the tower server. There's nothing else available here. Dang lucky to have indoor plumbing.

I think the network should be limited to 5Mbs for everyone until rural areas get the same benefits as the city-slickers.

 

[strollin]

I surf at less than 10Mbps (my service is rated 4up/4down) because it is the fastest available where I live. It isn't cheap either, $138 month. I work from home and I don't have any problems doing my work, accessing remote servers in other states or even other countries. I only recently got upgraded to 4Mbps, used to have only a 1.5Mbps connection.

I can stream Netflix and the like at full HD as well. While I'd like to have a faster connection, 4Mbps is fast enough for what I need to do.

 

[ThrashZone]

Seeing as I don't download allot of stuff I really don't see the need to pay for the high speeds,
I'm happy with what ever I have which does not effect daily surfing anyway nor does it effect youtube vid's so it's fast enough,
But I down graded u-verse standard speed to I believe 7kbs ? what ever the slowest was ?
DSL was fine with me before u-verse so I'm not picky on the matter,
Cheers.

 

[strollin]

... But I down graded u-verse standard speed to I believe 7kbs ? what ever the slowest was ...

I hope you have a connection faster than 7kbps, that's much slower than dialup which is around 50kbps.

 

[ThrashZone]

LOL yea I believe it's 3mbps my bad I had to check the their website oops

 

[andrew129260]

:roflmao:

 

[HerrKaLeun]

I surf at less than 10Mbps (my service is rated 4up/4down) because it is the fastest available where I live. It isn't cheap either, $138 month. I work from home and I don't have any problems doing my work, accessing remote servers in other states or even other countries. I only recently got upgraded to 4Mbps, used to have only a 1.5Mbps connection.

This mus be a commercial connection judging by upload. Typically residential access has low upload (but higher download) at much lower cost. Not sure if your work requires you to have that much upload, but you pay a lot to have it.

U-verse (which is over the phone, like and advanced DSL if you will) starts at 12 MBs, I think. I have that and actually have that rate constantly (~12.4 measured), it is really great. teh issue is distance to the nearest fiber point. If you live in rural area, you likley don't have that nearby. If you live closer, it cna get you up to 50 MBs or so.

Not sure about all that cable stuff, they always advertise it woudl be fast. But everyoen I know who has cable always doesn't have internet or it is super slow most of the time. My U-verse may only have 12, but i have it 100% of the time.

 

[strollin]

No, it's not a special commercial account and I don't need the faster upload or pay a premium for it. I am fortunate though that my employer pays the $138 monthly cost, otherwise I couldn't justify paying that much. There is no cable or DSL available where I live so these guys can charge accordingly since there's no competition.

 

[M1GU31]

I suppose i'm luckier then most but really hate it because I use services like steam were I have to download my games when I buy them and the downloads are super slow, takes hours :| . Wish I had my aunts speed though she lives in town and gets 19Mbps down and 2 up . Downloads are so fast there compared to mine hehe. For youtube and netflix it's fine , just when I have to download my games from steam that bothers me, also that 150gb bandwidth cap doesn't make it any better and get the kick since ppl who can have u-verse get a 250gb cap which I find unfair. With most games being like 8gbs or larger these days. Largest game I have is about 28gbs, most are like around 9-10 so you can see why I would have a fit over the wait and the cap.

 

[Computer0304]

Despite Internet speed improvements in nearly every state, most US residents are still surfing the Web at less than 10Mbps, according to Akamai's latest State of the Internet Report.

Drawing data from Akamai's globally distributed network of servers, the report covering Q3 2013 put the US in 9th place worldwide in the proportion of residents with "high broadband," or at least 10Mbps average download speeds:

View attachment 304053

Source

A Guy

Well I guess it is good to know that I will most likely have a faster speed in Korea when I move there even though my speed is already 40/25 i think.

 

[carwiz]

There was an article in the paper this morning about the soon to be arriving UHDTV and Netflicks' service for streaming movies. It said that a connection with a minimum of 15Mbs would be needed while standard HDTV requires 7MBs. Cripes, I have a hard enough time watching YouTube without an occasional pause.

 

[King Arthur]

That's the cost of trying to stream 720p/1080p ("HD") content, let alone "4K" content ("UHD", or "Ultra HD" from what I understand) that is actually 3840x2160 resolution which is 4x as big as 1080p which is 1920x1080 resolution.

Incidentally, the "4K" moniker is stupid. It artificially inflates the "resolution" of the video by switching from measuring vertical height as was the case with 720p/1080p to measuring horizontal width. Going by prior standards, 4K content is actually 2160p.

 

[whs]

The problem in the US is that decent high speed service is very expensive. In Germany where I live half of the year I pay appr. $20 for DSL 6000. In the US I pay $37 for DSL3000. That is about twice as much for half of the speed. No wonder people stay on the low cost sevices.

 

[ShamrockRig]

$138?:O Lucky if we pay £30..
We get 18mb unlimited from sky but when downloading files the fastest ive seen is 1.5mbps

 

[Slartybart]

Yeah, but we CRUSHED Denmark!

 

[strollin]

$138?:O Lucky if we pay £30..
We get 18mb unlimited from sky but when downloading files the fastest ive seen is 1.5mbps

$138 is what my company pays now for my 4up/4down service, at one time they were paying $159 for 1.5up/1.5 down.