Xfinity is no longer the fastest internet provider in the US

Which ISP is the fastest in America? Every quarter, internet speed testing company Ookla releases data collected from millions of people using its Speedtest.net tool to determine which internet provider offers the fastest median download speeds. Spectrum and Xfinity have swapped places since last summer. Now the verdict for the first three months of 2023 is in and Spectrum is back on top.

Spectrum, Charter Communications’ internet service provider, took pole position with a median download speed of just under 235 megabits per second, beating out previous quarter winner Comcast’s Xfinity, which finished in the first quarter. of 2023 with a median download speed of just under 233 Mbps.

The Fastest Internet Service Providers in the United States

Supplier	Median download speed
Spectrum	235Mbps
Xfinity	233Mbps
coxswain	219Mbps
Optimum	196Mbps
Border	190Mbps
Verizon	186Mbps
AT&T Internet	180Mbps

To be considered one of the top ISPs in the country in this survey, an ISP must appear in 3% or more of the total test data taken over the three months. For example, PEB, a provider in Chattanooga, Tennessee, offers the nation’s fastest home internet plan at 25 gigabits per second (or 25,000 Mbps). But since it’s only available in that part of the country, it won’t appear on the national list (although it’s certainly top of the list for Tennessee).

It’s also worth noting that the 3% threshold is based on customer test data across the country, not just that a provider covers 3% of the country. T-Mobile Home Internet, for example, is now available in 60% of the country, according to the 2022 Communications Market Report released by the Federal Communications Commission in December. However, his customer base, which grew to over 2.6 million subscribers, was not large enough to be considered in this list.

The Ookla speed test information does not use the average (or average) but the median, which tries to better represent what a typical user might feel.

Ok so

Although Spectrum’s speed test results with Ookla got a median download speed of 235 Mbps, that doesn’t equate to every Spectrum subscriber getting at least 235 Mbps. It also doesn’t mean that some Spectrum subscribers won’t see speeds faster than this – Spectrum offers a gigabit plan with download speeds of 940 Mbps. It’s just a good snapshot of a typical US customer’s experience with their Internet service.

Will Spectrum keep this place of choice? Can Xfinity bounce back? Or will Cox, who took the lead from April to June 2022, find his way back to the top? We’ll be watching what happens with the results for the second quarter of 2023.