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Lies, damned lies, and Internet speeds

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ISPs have a bad habit of promising to deliver Internet speeds they actually can’t deliver. But, according to the U.S.’s Federal Communication Commission (FCC) latest ISP Internet report, Measuring Broadband America, A Report on Consumer Wireline Broadband Performance in the U.S. ISPs are getting better at residential Internet broadband.

The FCC found that “participating broadband providers, actual download and upload speeds were over 80 percent of advertised speeds.” Just over 80% is a C in my school, but the ISPs are doing much better than they were last year. “In 2011, the average ISP delivered 87 percent of advertised download speed during peak usage periods [weeknights between 7:00 pm to 11:00 pm local time]; in 2012, that jumped to 96 percent. In other words, consumers today are experiencing performance more closely aligned with what is advertised than they experienced one year ago.”

The researchers also found that the “Average peak period download speeds varied from a high of 120 percent of advertised speed to a low of 77 percent of advertised speed. This is a dramatic improvement from last year where these numbers ranged from a high of 114 percent to a low of 54 percent.”

Lies, damned lies, and Internet speeds. More >

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