For Fast Internet in the US, Virginia Tops the Charts 98
According to data gathered by Akamai, an analysis from Broadview Networks comes to the conclusion that the top five U.S. states for broadband speed are Virginia (at the top of the list, with an average transfer speed of 13.78 Mbps), Delaware, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Washington, with Washington, D.C. slightly edging out the similarly-named state; Alaska comes in dead last. These are average speeds, though, and big states have more variation to account for, including connections in the hinterlands. You could still have a fast connection in Chattanooga, or be stuck on dial-up in the Texas panhandle.
Fiber to the Home (Score:4, Interesting)
Hell we have faster than that in in Clarksville, Tennessee :) with reasonably decent prices. Oh ya we have Municipal Fiber to the Home
50mbps - $44.95
100mbps - $69.96
200mpbs - $89.95
1000mbps - $249.95
You can get triple pack with 175 TV channels, phone, and 50mbps internet for $118 a month.
And these are not special offer prices. They just bumped everyone's speeds up by 2x and they have yet to raise prices. Speeds are bidirectional so you get the same up as down. They are a Netflix open connect partner, and you actually get the speeds they promise! Go CDE Lightband!
And yet here I am (Score:4, Interesting)
Here I am, in downtown Richmond (capital of Virginia). I *should* be getting some blazing-fast internet, right? Perfect conditions for it.
Nope. 3Mbps DSL. I can't switch ISPs because my apartment gave a monopoly to Telcom Communications (seriously, that's their actual name - they seem to be reselling CenturyLink). Sure, they don't call it that, but I checked every ISP and none of them will provide service to me except some DSL that's just as slow as what I've got.
And yet my parents, living twenty minutes away from anywhere in the empty part of Chesterfield, are getting 50Mbps FttH. I really want to see the economic explanation for that - it's too expensive to run fiber literally a block from Main Street, but a 20-mile run past several farms and lumber fields is somehow profitable.
Re:Fiber to the Home (Score:2, Interesting)
Compared to what you can get in Europe or Asia, those "decent prices" are in fact insanely expensive.
You seen to think "Europe" = London or Paris.
ISP rates are directly related to population density.
Clarksville has a population density of 1,502 people/sq mile
Scottlands got about the same population density... lets see what their rates are like:
http://www.scotnet.co.uk/servi... [scotnet.co.uk]
Service Name Fibre Ultra Fibre Ultra Plus Fibre Extreme Fibre Extreme Plus
Upstream Speed* 10Mb/s 10Mb/s 20Mb/s 20Mb/s
Downstream Speed* 40Mb/s 40Mb/s 80Mb/s 80Mb/s
Connection charge (£) 85 85 85 85
Wifi Router (includes configuration) 49.99 49.99 49.99 49.99
Monthly Data Transfer Allowance** 50Gb 100Gb 50Gb 100Gb
Monthly Rental (£) 29.99 39.99 39.99 49.99
Wow... that sucks. Still want to get European rates here?