The latest report was characterized by a number of new records, editor David Belson noted in a press release. For the first time, the global average connection speed rose above 4 megabits per second, the threshold used by the Federal Communications Commission to define “broadband.” All of the top 10 states had average peak speeds above 50 mbps in the second quarter—another first, according to the report. Akamai provides cloud services to some of the world’s largest Web sites, in part to more quickly deliver content to visitors.

On average, the Internet is more than twice as fast in Delaware than Arkansas

In terms of absolute speeds, Delaware had the fastest Internet speeds at 16.2 mbps, followed by just over 14 in Virginia; Washington. D.C. was next with speeds just below 14 mbps. The Internet was slowest in Arkansas, where average speeds were 7.5 mbps.

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Average speed, as of the second quarter. (Darker shading represents higher values.)

Quarterly speeds rose in 48 states

Internet speeds saw double-digit increases between the first two quarters of the year in seven states: Delaware, Connecticut, Missouri, Montana, Wyoming, Washington and New Jersey. Delaware had the biggest average quarterly increase in Internet speeds, at 24 percent. Connecticut was next at 17 percent, followed by Missouri at 176 percent.

Change in speed between the first and second quarters. (Darker shading represents higher values.)

Every state saw at least double-digit increases, year-over-year

Four states saw Internet speeds grow more than 50 percent between the second quarters of 2013 and 2014. Speeds in Kansas rose 106 percent, while Maryland had a 70 percent increase, Arkansas had a 64 percent rise and Delaware had a 50 percent increase.