Netflix ranking reveals 17 fastest ISPs in America

Who better than Netflix to measure how fast your ISP is?

After all, the online TV and movie distributor has, on occasion, used up to a third of all bandwidth in North America singlehandedly. And Netflix’s 33 million customers currently stream more than a billion hours of TV and movies every single month.

The streaming media company has put out a “Netflix ISP Index,” giving you insight into which Internet service providers are the fastest.

In the U.S., that list starts with Google, which is running a high-speed fiber experiment in Kansas and boasts an average download speed of 3.35 megabits per second. Cox comes in fourth, followed closely by Verizon FIOS. But long-time incumbents AT&T, Time Warner, and ClearWire languish well in the rear:

1. Google Fiber – 3.35 Mbps
2. Cablevision – Optimum – 2.35 Mbps
3. SuddenLink – 2.19 Mbps
4. Cox – 2.12 Mbps
5. Verizon-FIOS – 2.10 Mbps
6. Charter – 2.08 Mbps
7. Comcast – 2.06 Mbps
8. Mediacom – 2.04 Mbps
9. Time Warner Cable – 2.04 Mbps
10. Bright House – 2.02 Mbps
11. AT&T U-Verse – 1.91 Mbps
12. Centurylink – 1.68 Mbps
13. Windstream – 1.61 Mbps
14. Frontier – 1.54 Mbps
15. AT&T DSL – 1.43 Mbps
16. Verizon DSL – 1.37 Mbps
17. Clearwire – 1.25 Mbps

The results are average velocity, so peak velocity can be much higher.

The ranking is useful for choosing an ISP, or negotiating with your current service provider. And, perhaps, from Netflix’ point of view, it’s also a shot across the bow of ISPs that might be tempted to “packet-shape,” or slow down traffic from media companies that don’t pay extra for higher speed.

Globally, Netflix members in Finland have the highest average speed, while Mexican Netflix subscribers have the lowest. And all ISPs in Denmark, Sweden, and Finland delivered better than a 2Mbps download speed.

You can check your results here.

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