The United States reached an important milestone, according to new research by Speedtest. For the first time in history, the average download speed for domestic broadband users surpassed 50 Mbps, hitting a top speed of 54.97 Mbps in June 2016. This figure represents an increase of 42% over last year and is 1000 times faster than dial up. Upload speeds improved as well, rising more than 50% to an average of nearly 19 Mbps.
The study was based on nearly 60 million performance tests conducted between January and June of this year. Speedtest also found that the fastest provider for download speeds was Comcast Xfinity, while the champion of upload was Verizon FiOS. Even with these dramatic speed boosts, however, there remain areas that can be upgraded. For example, faster broadband connections remain more readily available in metro hubs, while rural areas languish with much slower speeds.
