You helped us test the speed of Internet Service Providers all over the country and here are the results. Is your ISP among the fastest?

Next to the speed of your computer, your Internet speed—the bandwidth of the pipe you use for downloading and uploading data—is the most important thing in your computing arsenal. The world is moving to the cloud and without a fast connection, you'll be left behind.

The question is, who provides the most bang for your buck? That's where we come in. When it comes to the Internet Service Providers (ISPs) that deliver service your home or office, we're here to let you know who's the fastest. Typically, this involves wire-based services, but we're seeing wireless companies encroach more and more each year. For a look at the best mobile providers, check out our Fastest Mobile Networks 2011 story.

In previous years, our tests focused on browsing download speeds. However, with video streaming and massive uploads/downloads becoming the norm, we realized we needed to change our methodology. We listened to your feedback and turned our attention to Ookla, a leader in broadband testing and Web-based network diagnostic applications, and its popular (and proven) product Speedtest.net. Speedtest.net is almost the de facto standard for testing connection speeds. Ookla set us up with our own PCMag branded version of the test. We ran the test over the course of three months for the purposes of this story (it continues to run at http://pcmag.speedtest.net, so give it a try). The data used in this story was gathered during that time period. We used the final download/upload speed to generate an index number to pick our winners, weighting downloads at 80 percent and uploads at 20 percent in terms of importance.

We also compared the data collected from our readers with the overall data Ookla keeps on permanent display at its Net Index site (numbers were collected from the site on August 5, 2011). More information on how Speedtest.net works can be found in the section of this story.—

The Fastest ISPs in the Nation

The list of the top 15 ISPs may surprise you. There's a reason for this. It's because of how Speedtest.net gathers data.

Based on our index number, which weights download speed as 80 percent of importance and upload speed at the remaining 20 percent, the top three performers are all major cable companies: Cox, Comcast, and Charter Communications. Each is a national provider that can be found in multiple states, and each has serious infrastructure installed to homes. All scored a fantastic average of 18+ Megabits per second (Mbps) for downloads; Cox had the best upload speed of the three, with an average of 4.8 Mbps. Given our weighting, they all got scores of over 15, with Charter at the low end because of the slower upload speed.

What may confuse you are the Verizon results and here's why: When users of any Verizon service use Speedtest.net—whether it's Verizon FiOS using fiber optic technology or DSL via copper phone wire—the results are all tabulated together. Despite this, Verizon still got an amazing 14.80 index score. It's clear that FiOS's speed floats Verizon above the rest. Our revealed that you, our readers, utterly adore FiOS service. It's won the Readers' Choice award for several years running. That aside, there's no question that Verizon FiOS deserves an Honorable Mention as a fastest ISP technology. FiOS is used by 4.3 million people in 12 states, plus D.C., promising speeds as high as 35 Mbps up and down in some areas. (Next year, Ookla hopes to break out the different technologies for each ISP, as others, like AT&T, also offer multiple connection types.)

Take a look at the very close index scores from Insight and Road Runner, both of which are close to 12.5. Surprised it doesn't say "Time Warner" instead of Road Runner? That's because Time Warner, while the main provider of the Road Runner service in several states, also licenses the network out to other ISPs, including Brighthouse Networks (which didn't make our cut based on number of times tested) and...Insight! In fact, they work well enough together that Time Warner is buying Insight for $3 billion, even though Insight only uses Road Runner in one city: Columbus, Ohio. Insight also operates in Kentucky and some of Indiana and obviously does very well.

Finally, note that Cablevision, which operates Optimum Online in the tri-state area and parts of Pennsylvania, bought out Bresnan Communications last year, which operates in Colorado, Montana, Utah, and Wyoming. Speedtest.net IDs the users there as Bresnan customers still, but the actual service is now called Optimum West. In the test however, the original Optimum scores a good 4.4 index points better than its western counterpart.

How does the overall Net Index stats list differ? Not too much. Comcast, Charter, and Cox still make it in the top four, but are joined there by Optimum Online. The overall test speeds max out with Comcast's 17.55 Mbps average nationwide, compared to the 18.64 Mbps download we saw in PCMag reader tests.

The Fastest ISPs in the Nation:

Cox Communications

(18.51 Mbps Down/4.80 Mbps Up)

It's the third-largest cable provider in the U.S. with 3.5 million Internet subscribers in 17 states. It's only a tick behind Comcast for downloads, but bested it in upload speeds on average, with an almost identical index number of 15.77. Comcast Cable

(18.64Mbps Down/3.94 Mbps Up)

The largest cable operator in the nation, Comcast provides service to 14 million Internet subscribers in 39 states, plus the District of Columbia. Obviously, it knows something about a fast infrastructure based on the speeds it delivers to PCMag readers. Charter Communications

(18.34 Mbps Down/1.68 Mbps Up)

The fourth largest cable operator manages to stay close the competition via a fast download speed.

The Fastest ISPs by Region

The U.S. Census breaks the country up into four regions, and we're happy to do the same, using the government's own groupings. After all, where you live has perhaps the most bearing on how fast your ISP true performs. People in rural areas sometimes can't get broadband Internet, suffering with inadequate satellite services in some cases. Even customers of the same ISP in two different areas can get wildly different speeds. Who you choose as a provider—if you even have a choice—can depend on where you live.

Here's a quick breakdown of the top ISPs you'll find in your corner of the country.

Northeast

Includes: Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont

Fastest ISP in the Northeast: Verizon

The bar chart tells you all you need to know: Comcast continues to be the ISP to beat when it comes to download speed, but Verizon is not far behind. Couple that with Verizon's phenomenal upload speed (powered no doubt by it's fiber-to-the-home service) and it shot ahead of the pack in our index scores, making it our Fastest ISP in the Northeast.







West

Includes: Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Wyoming

Fastest ISP in the West: Charter Communications

Verizon's download speed falls a bit when you head west. We'll chock that up to the company's concentration on the east coast, but it would still behoove you to look for FiOS. That said, we give the nod here to Charter, which, despite its slow upload speed average, manages the high index score. Comcast is barely a tenth of a point behind it, however.







Midwest

Includes: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Wisconsin

Fastest ISP in the Midwest: Charter Communications

The big three cable companies that fought neck and neck for our national Fastest ISP title take it to the heartland. Charter scores a hit with the fastest download speed among all the regional ISPs, boosting its index well ahead of Comcast and Cox (this despite the latter two having significantly better upload speeds).







South

Includes: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia

Fastest ISP in the South: Verizon

Verizon's the only way to go if you live south of the Mason-Dixon. Average downloads of 20.39, coupled with average uploads of 11.27 Mbps and an amazing index number of 18.57, make it the Fastest ISP in that region (and remember, that's with DSL and fiber-optic speeds all averaged together). When Verizon FiOS is among your options, take it.

Fastest Business ISPs

A couple of business-only ISPs crept into our PCMag reader results, ending up in our overall top 10. It's worth noting, however, that one of them, Comcast Business Class, the office-oriented sibling of top-rated ISP Comcast, performs significantly better, with the highest average download speed we saw among PCMag readers: 24.13 Mbps, leading to an index score of 20.46. This isn't too surprising, since ISPs for businesses will typically give you a bigger pipe as they cost more.

Another one to take a look at is tw telecom. This company is a Time Warner off-shoot that dates back to 1997. It's now in 75 U.S. markets and here's where it excels: While its average download time among our readers was a more-than-adequate 17.37, its upload speed was even faster at 18.14 Mbps, giving it an index of 17.53. The only consumer ISP that comes close to that average upload is Verizon, boosted by customers with FiOS service. No other consumer ISP comes close to touching the index numbers of Comcast Business and tw telecom.

Long story short: Big national cable ISPs are pretty fast. Local ISPs are generally faster. But what about business ISPs? They're the fastest. If you can afford one, get it.

The Fastest ISPs: City, State & World

Fastest ISPs by City

Delving into the results from PCMag's Speedtest.net users by city showed most of the same players with wildly divergent numbers in some cases.

For example, among readers, the best speeds are those of Cox customers in Phoenix, AZ, with a 21.52 Mbps average download speed and an index of 18.53. Comcast led in in Portland, OR (16.11 index), Houston, TX (16.96 index), and Seattle, WA (15.34 index). Road Runner was the fastest in Los Angeles, CA (12.07 index) and New York City (13.87 index) and saw great numbers in Austin, TX (15.53 index).

Interestingly, Verizon came out on top in a couple of cities (Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia) but with low index numbers (3.19 and 3.37, respectively), despite the fact that Verizon FiOS is available in each area. However, it was the only ISP to make the list for those two cities based on our criteria.

Jumping to the Net Index stats tells a slightly different tale. The absolute fastest city broadband is in Plano, TX, according to Speedtest. Much of it is provided by Verizon (19.77 Mbps download!) and Road Runner. The rest of the top five cities for Internet speed were Richmond, VA followed by Fort Lauderdale, Tampa, and Hollywood in Florida. San Jose, CA, home of Silicon Valley, is only number six for speed, with AT&T and Comcast the top providers there.

Fastest ISPs by State

We received enough data to include results from 35 states, plus the District of Columbia.

The fastest of the ISPs by state was Verizon, powered no doubt by FiOS. It had an index score of 19.02 in Texas (plus 18.71 in Florida and 18.45 in Maryland). Cox in Virginia delivered an equally high index score of 19.02.

Likewise, Cox is the fastest ISP for our readers in Arizona (16.79 index), California (17.10), Louisiana (a somewhat low 10.07 index), Nevada (13.62), Oklahoma (17.70 Mbps), and Rhode Island (18.17 Mbps).

Comcast was tops in 14 states, with the highest speeds in Oregon (16.89 index), Minnesota (16.74 index), and Illinois (17.0 index). The lowest index score Comcast got in our test by state was 12.73 in Connecticut, where it was still the fastest ISP. Our other top performer, Charter, was the top ISP for Michigan (13.62 index), Missouri (13.62 index), Tennessee (14.68 index), Utah (16.73 index), and, finally, Wisconsin (16.4 index).

Who scored the lowest? Folks in Alabama, South Carolina and Mississippi appear to stumble thanks to AT&T South (formerly Bellsouth). All had an index of well below 5.0 (Alabama's AT&T speed is the lowest on the chart, with an index of 2.56.). The District of Columbia comes close, with Verizon getting an index score of 3.19 (despite the fact that FiOS is available in D.C.).

If you take a look at the Net Index for the nation, the Dakotas and Delaware—states we didn't get enough tests from PCMag readers to include—deliver the fastest ISP speeds to people in the U.S. South Dakota was clocked at 18.97 Mbps and North at 17.53 Mbps (the top ISP in both is a company called Midcontinent Communications). Delaware is third at 16.37 Mbps download(with Verizon the top ISP there).

The most populated states, New York and California, are number 11 (at 13.32 Mbps) and number 25 (at 11.27 Mbps), respectively. Alaskan's get a lousy 4.04 Mbps average, ranking 51st (the list includes the District of Columbia, which ranks 39th, with 9.21 Mbps average download). If you want the fastest uploads, go to Rhode Island where the average is 7.77 Mbps thanks to Verizon and Cox.

In most cases, when you go into Net Index by state and look at the top ISPs for download speed, they tend to be the small, local ISPs. They stay nimble and can provide better service to their customers in a way the big guys can't. So if you're lucky enough to live in an area with competition among providers, be sure to shop around and check Net Index to see which is the providing the best quality for your money.

Fastest ISPs in the World

While we focused on the U.S. only for our story, it's worth mentioning that, as of the beginning of August, the overall Household Download Index at Net Index shows that the U.S.'s average broadband speed barely cracked the top 30 worldwide. We came in at number 29, in fact, with an 11.37 Mbps download speed on average (just ahead of the United Kingdom at 10.67 Mbps and Canada at number 33 with 10.51 Mbps).

So who has the fastest broadband in the world? That designation goes to Lithuania, which tested at a scorching average of 31.16 Mbps nationwide. The fastest ISP in that nation is called Penti Kontinentai and delivered an amazing 81.40 Mbps. It's a speed currently inconceivable for consumers in the U.S.

Rounding out the top five nations: South Korea (30.1 Mbps), Romania (24.16 Mbps), Netherlands (23.64 Mbps), and Latvia (23.21 Mbps).—

Most Bang for Your Buck

Ookla includes a special rating at Net Index, called the Household Value Index, to check if you're getting the most for your money. It compares broadband value around the world. In other words, it reports the median cost in U.S. dollars per Megabit per second ($/Mbps).

Sadly, the States don't even make the top 25. We're at number 29, with a median cost of $5.48/Mbps.

If you want to save money, move to Southeast Europe, where the leaders are Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova, Ukraine, and Lithuania and Latvia. All charge less than $2/Mbps. (You do not want to surf the Web in Indonesia, where the cost is $38.49/Mbps. Ouch.)

By state, South Dakota ($2.66/Mbps), Delaware ($3.15/Mbps), and Rhode Island ($3.79/Mbps) have the best savings. Iowa, Alaska, and District of Columbia are the worst at over $11/Mbps each. If you look at the "relative cost of broadband," which is the mean broadband subscription cost divided by the country's gross domestic product per capita, Missouri is best with a 1.08 percent.

Net Index also rates by "promise index," which compares the speed you're promised by your ISP to what you actually get. Delaware, Maryland, and Massachusetts top this list for the 50 states, delivering, on average, speeds over what's promised. That means a promise index of 100+ percent. Montana sits at the bottom, with ISPs in that state delivering only 79.56 percent of what they promise.

If you want a city outside of the top three states with a high promise rate, you should move to Cape Coral, FL (126.29 percent); Toms River, NJ (122.42 percent); or Dallas, GA (no, not Texas, at 120.33 percent). There's a list on the site of 30 cities all over 100 percent.—

Awards: The Fastest ISPs

THE WINNERS

The Fastest ISP in the Nation : Cox Communications

(18.51 Mbps Down/4.80 Mbps Up)

It's the third-largest cable provider in the U.S. with 3.5 million Internet subscribers in 17 states. It's only a tick behind Comcast for downloads, but bested it in upload speeds on average, with an almost identical index number of 15.77.

Fastest ISP in the Nation : Comcast Cable

(18.64Mbps Down/3.94 Mbps Up)

The largest cable operator in the nation, Comcast provides service to 14 million Internet subscribers in 39 states, plus the District of Columbia. Obviously, it knows something about a fast infrastructure based on the speeds it delivers to PCMag readers.

Fastest ISP in the Nation : Charter Communications

(18.34 Mbps Down/1.68 Mbps Up)

The fourth largest cable operator manages to stay close the competition via a fast download speed.

Fastest ISP in the Northeast : Verizon

(17.39 Mbps down/10.01 Mbps up)

It lags a little in download speed, but Verizon's combination of down/up throughput helped it get the highest Index number, making it one to beat in the Northeastern US.

Fastest ISP in the West : Charter Communications

(19.66 Mbps down/1.76 up)

Charter manages to make the top three in all four regions of the US, and in the West it's got the top index number to give it the nod.

Fastest ISP in the Midwest : Charter Communications

(19.91 Mbps down/1.76 Mbps up)

A slow download rate doesn't matter when we index Charter with a fantastic download speed, shooting it to the top for the Midwest.

Fastest ISP in the South : Verizon

(20.39 Mbps down/ 11.27 Mbps up)

The killer combo of up and download speeds on average means you can't beat Verizon if you live in the southern states.

Methodology

The results cited in this article were taken from 58,300 tests completed from May 6, 2011 until July 29, 2011 at pcmag.speedtest.net. Speedtest.net collected both download and upload speeds for us, measured in Megabits per second (Mbps). We used those results to calculate an index score for a better one-to-one comparison, where downloads count for 80 percent and uploads 20 percent.

Throughout the story, our numbers are frequently compared to results from Net Index, which reports the results of all tests handled by Ookla's Speedtest.net tool, across all networks and partners (Speedtest.net is practically the standard measuring tool for major ISPs, schools, and businesses. It's used up to 50 million times a month.) Net Index anonymously compiles the last month's data from Speedtest.net and Pingtest.net (which checks the quality of your Internet connection for high-end use, such as streaming and VoIP apps) on a rolling basis. We used data from the site found on August 5, 2011.

Speedtest.net requires only a Web browser running Adobe Flash 10 or higher and JavaScript to work. On the back end, it performs what's called a "fill the pipe" test. Rather than testing the upload and download speed of a single file, it uses multiple broadband threads (the broadband applications that can be used by a browser) to measure the total capacity of the "pipe." This leads to numbers that are higher than some other Internet speed tests out there, sometimes even higher than the rate of broadband speed you are paying for.

A note about PowerBoost: This is a marketing term used by Comcast, though other cable-based ISPs use similar technology. It ramps up the initial speed of a connection to faster than what it will sustain. For example, someone with a 20 Mbps-rated Internet connection can find their initial connection jump up to 40 or 50 Mbps, but only for a few seconds. It occurs on a per-transfer basis, and most Internet activity, especially Web browsing, sees a boost from it, but it doesn't last long and therefore doesn't impact long downloads or streaming much. Ookla's Doug Suttles says "we feel [PowerBoost] is very relevant to the speeds seen. When you test at Speedtest.net on a boosted connection, you will usually see the download graph decrease toward the end. We end up using a blend of boosted and unboosted data in this case to determine overall speed."

Thanks to for assistance.