User Experienced Speeds are Slower than Delivered Speeds

Data from Speedtest Intelligence shows that 17 percent of U.S. counties with sufficient samples did not meet the minimum median speeds for the current FCC definition of broadband (25 Mbps download, 3 Mbps upload) in the second quarter of 2021, Ookla says. As often is the case, the data must be interpreted.

Those figures are based on end user speed tests, in most cases conducted on devices that are Wi-Fi connected. 

So one caveat is that the samples are not random. How many of us routinely test our access speeds when they are not a problem? Almost by definition, speed tests are conducted when there is a perceived problem. Also, most of those tests happen on Wi-Fi connections that are far slower than the actual speeds delivered to the router. 

Wi-Fi speeds can often be an order of magnitude slower than the wireline delivered speed, for all sorts of reasons. 

On this map, areas shown in dark blue do not meet the downstream minimum of 25 Mbps. The green areas show issues with upload speeds. Those areas are mostly rural. 

Aside from the “Wi-Fi speed, not delivered speed” issue, keep in mind that 86 percent of the U.S. land surface has home density less than 15 homes per plant mile.  

source: Ookla 

Most people in the United States live on just six percent of the U.S. land surface, according to the USDA. About 94 percent is unsettled or lightly populated, including mountains, rangeland, cropland and forests. 

That means people or locations unable to “buy broadband” are fewer than geographic coverage would seem to indicate. Networks serving most of the people can be built on a single-digit percentage of areas. 

But that still leaves huge amounts of space where networks are expensive. 

Some 92 percent of counties with sufficient samples were not operating at a minimum 100 Mbps standard in the second quarter of 2021, Ookla also says. 

What cannot be ascertained from the Ookla data is the actual speed delivered by internet access providers to the router. What we appear to be measuring is device experienced speed using Wi-Fi. Distance from the router; in-home obstructions; interfering devices operating; age of the router or devices all can reduce experienced speeds.