Spectrum narrowly beats Cox as the fastest Internet provider in the United States

There is a broadband speed contest where every internet service provider he wants to claim the title of fastest in America. Every three months, internet speed test the Ookla company publishes the results of data collected from millions of people using its Speedtest.net tool to determine which Internet provider offers the fastest average download speeds. CNET often uses its findings to help inform our hunches Compare ISPs at the city and state level. Internet spectrum took the top spot in Ookla’s first quarter report for 2023, but would it hold up?

Spectrum Internet, Charter Communications’ cable internet service, maintained its position with an average download speed of 243 megabits per second, which is up from its previous level of 235Mbps and just ahead of the second ISP, Cox, which finished Q2 2023 with an average download speed of around 242Mbps, a significant jump from the 219Mbps it posted just earlier this year. In fact, only of the seven listed providers top the charts AT&T extension it’s seen a bigger jump in the last three months, going from 180 Mbps – and seventh place in the rankings – to 210 Mbps and a fourth place.

To qualify as one of the nation’s top Internet service providers in Ookla’s study, a provider must appear in 3 percent or more of the total test data collected during the three-month window. This means that some super-fast regional providers may experience higher average download speeds than those seen above. However, they won’t appear on this national list as they are only available in a smaller part of the country.

That begs the next question: Spectrum’s victory and Ookla’s current state fastest internet provider does that mean it offers the fastest internet plans in the whole country? No. But it provides further proof of the consistency of a cable internet connection. For example, the fastest plan Spectrum offers nationwide is a gigabit offering that exceeds 940 Mbps. This does not compare to the 5 gigabit fiber Internet tier that both AT&T and Border can deliver to customers in more than 100 cities in the United States. However, both providers also prevail ADSL plans through their national footprint. Not only is DSL far inferior to fiber internetbut it’s not even up to the cable.

As mentioned earlier in our ISP reviews, speed test data can give you a decent snapshot of how well your Internet connection he’s performing, but that’s not the final word. Many factors come into play, including whether or not you’re using your Wi-Fi connection (vs. connected via Ethernet), the time of day you’re testing, and other variables.

As for these latest numbers from Ookla, just because Spectrum’s average download speed was 243Mbps, doesn’t mean every Spectrum customer will get at least 243Mbps. Nor does it mean that no Spectrum subscription will see faster speeds. Instead, it provides a useful overview of what a typical US customer might expect from their ISP.

An Ookla spokesperson told me via email that Ooka’s report aims to “more accurately represent the typical performance consumers actually experience on a network.”

It will be interesting to see if 5G home internet services — such as T Mobile Home Internet (now boasting over 3 million customers) or Verizon 5G home internet — may eventually cross that 3% threshold and affect these national numbers. We’ll be watching to see what happens as we move into the second half of 2023.