US ranks 26th in new broadband index

South Korea has the fastest home Internet service in the world, with a downstream speed 100 times faster than the average in Sudan, the operator of Speedtest.net reported on a new Web site that compiles results from consumers running its online test. When South Koreans tested their wired broadband connections over the past 30 days, they found an average downstream speed of 34.14M bps (bits per second), according to the Net Index, which was introduced on Tuesday by Ookla, the creator of Speedtest. That was several times the worldwide average of 7.67M bps and 100 times as fast as the 340K bps downstream speed in Sudan, the lowest average out of 152 ranked countries.IDG News Service

The above is only an excerpt. You can read the full article here.

I am rather surprised to see that eight out of the top ten countries with the fastest internet connection are in Europe. South Korea and Japan being in the top ten was obvious, though. Anyway, I posted this in System Wars since certain people love to cite slow internet connections as being a barrier to the likes of streaming games or even downloading them. Now is your chance to use the data provided to argue either for or against streaming and/or downloading games.

I am surprised that the internet backwater known as the US scored as high as 26th :D

I am surprised that the internet backwater known as the US scored as high as 26th :D

SUD123456

Speedtest is a terrible source for something like this due to all sorts of selection bias. That said, it's pretty well known that the US has relatively ****ty broadband.

[QUOTE="SUD123456"]

I am surprised that the internet backwater known as the US scored as high as 26th :D

Androvinus

This is relevant how exactly?

This is relevant how exactly?

UserBane

Just be thankful you dont live in NZ where we have the worst internet in the developed world

By the way this doesn't really have anything to do with system wars

the us is a big big country... maybe that's why?

Oh boy I was hoping Brazil would be the 69th , I mean if we can't get the top ten we can get the lulz , unfortunately we're in 68th let's hope grenada beats us LOL. :lol:

Blame the large amount of rural areas. :P

The problem with the US is that, unlike most other countries, our population is really spread out. Makes it harder to get a good infrastructure in place.Dick_Derringer

Not true.

The United States has a total resident population of 309,345,000.[1] It is a very urbanized population, with 81% residing in cities and suburbs as of mid-2005 (the worldwide urban rate was 49%).[2]

Canada is 32nd.......

But we only have 3 people/sq.KM, compared to S.Korea's 500 people/sq.KM. so.... yeah.

[QUOTE="SUD123456"]

I am surprised that the internet backwater known as the US scored as high as 26th :D

Androvinus

[QUOTE="Dick_Derringer"]The problem with the US is that, unlike most other countries, our population is really spread out. Makes it harder to get a good infrastructure in place.SUD123456

Not true.

The United States has a total resident population of 309,345,000.[1] It is a very urbanized population, with 81% residing in cities and suburbs as of mid-2005 (the worldwide urban rate was 49%).[2]

Canada is 32nd.......

But we only have 3 people/sq.KM, compared to S.Korea's 500 people/sq.KM. so.... yeah.

Domobomb

But those numbers are skewed by Canada's large unpopulated areas -- the vast majority of the Canadian population lives within a relatively small band around the US border. In fact, Canada actually has very good broadband penetration (usually somewhere around 13-14th in the world).

The problem is (similarly to the US) Canada has some of the worst telcos in the world; they charge exorbitant prices for relatively slow connections (nevermind the throttling and bandwidth caps) even in metropolitan areas. There's no reason why major cities can't have connections on-par with the best in Asia other than the fact the telcos know that due to the lack of competition and/or regulation they can do whatever the **** they want, and that means high prices for low speeds.

I wounder where all that money Obama spent went for broad band...?

[QUOTE="Domobomb"]

Canada is 32nd.......

But we only have 3 people/sq.KM, compared to S.Korea's 500 people/sq.KM. so.... yeah.

PBSnipes

But those numbers are skewed by Canada's large unpopulated areas -- the vast majority of the Canadian population lives within a relatively small band around the US border. In fact, Canada actually has very good broadband penetration (usually somewhere around 13-14th in the world).

The problem is (similarly to the US) Canada has some of the worst telcos in the world; they charge exorbitant prices for relatively slow connections (nevermind the throttling and bandwidth caps) even in metropolitan areas. There's no reason why major cities can't have connections on-par with the best in Asia other than the fact the telcos know that due to the lack of competition and/or regulation they can do whatever the **** they want, and that means high prices for low speeds.

Down with Rogers!siLVURcross

[QUOTE="Androvinus"][QUOTE="SUD123456"]

I am surprised that the internet backwater known as the US scored as high as 26th :D

BioDogshock

Yes, but do you other countries have this

Muahahaha we have1,380 milligrams of sodium waiting to make your heart explode

This is how we do it in the good ol' US of A

Honestly it comes down to money. If a company can get away with selling a service for more than its worth with little to no competition, there's no real rush to upgrade currentinfrastructure to support better service.

Telus just spent something like 20million in alberta to upgrade everything. And then they decreased their speeds and put a bandwidth cap in. luckily I'm not on that cap but in order for me to get their highest speeds I would need to get one. Right now I get 6mb/s dl and 1 ul.

I wounder where all that money Obama spent went for broad band...?

Truth_Hurts_U

Yes, because using magic he can rebuild the entire countries infrastructure in a year.

Portugal in tenth. Well yeah, we have fasts interwebs. And relatively cheap.

The problem with the US is that, unlike most other countries, our population is really spread out. Makes it harder to get a good infrastructure in place.Dick_Derringer

Actually the problem with the US is that we already had a good infrastructure in place for over a century. While many parts of the world were having their communications infrastructure devastated by wars all throughout the 40's, 50's and 60's, the US was using the same increasingly outdated lines we started with. Once South Korea stabalized and its economy took off, they finally decided to wire up the country simply using stuff that was off the shelf. They didn't have to worry about any of it being incompatible with what they had because for the most part what they had wasn't there anymore. The result was they were able to cheaply set up an internet infrastructure that was leaps and bounds better than anything the US was using.

The US, on the other hand, was and still is to an extent heavily reliant on very old tech that isn't cheap to remove and replace.

[QUOTE="Dick_Derringer"]The problem with the US is that, unlike most other countries, our population is really spread out. Makes it harder to get a good infrastructure in place.myke2010

Actually the problem with the US is that we already had a good infrastructure in place for over a century. While many parts of the world were having their communications infrastructure devastated by wars all throughout the 40's, 50's and 60's, the US was using the same increasingly outdated lines we started with. Once South Korea stabalized and its economy took off, they finally decided to wire up the country simply using stuff that was off the shelf. They didn't have to worry about any of it being incompatible with what they had because for the most part what they had wasn't there anymore. The result was they were able to cheaply set up an internet infrastructure that was leaps and bounds better than anything the US was using.

The US, on the other hand, was and still is to an extent heavily reliant on very old tech that isn't cheap to remove and replace.

yeah, this is the explanation I have heard to.

I'm not surprised, we here in the US pride ourselves on paying top dollar for sub par service. We love trendy commercials and despise value.

I live in Australia so yeah nobody should be complaining about **** internet.walkingdream

the uk's pretty bad well in my area bandwith throttling happens bout every hour of the day unless your up at like 1am :'(

Hmm Australia 39th place...

Hmm Australia 39th place...

zarshack

We should be lower...

This thread didn't quite go as imagined, it seems. No conservatives saying that it's too soon for downloading and streaming games and no progressives saying otherwise. What a pity.

[QUOTE="siLVURcross"]Down with Rogers!Domobomb

Yes, because using magic he can rebuild the entire countries infrastructure in a year.

cobrax25

It's not hard to run the lines out to people. It doesn't takes years to run cable lines 10-20 miles farther then what they were. There is already power lines to them... All it takes is a few people, cable trucks, wire and few other things. But yet I see no news on any progress getting internet out to people in areas that live only 3 miles from where the line stops for them.

The funny thing about your statement is... Power companies can restore power after a massive storm in 1-2 weeks. So yeah... You make it sound impossible.

cable companies were supposed to give everyone in the U.S fiber optics but instead they pocketed the money that was given to them by the government. Our internet connections should be alot better..coolmonkeykid

I live in Canada and I got this.



U.S can't be that far off can it? I'm only paying $19.99 a month for this. Crappy upload but great download though according to my ISP my package only allows for 15.5mb/s though they offer this powerboost thing which makes downloads 2x faster then normal for a period of a minute or so then it slows back down to 15.

You just have to find the right ISP

I live in Canada and I got this.



U.S can't be that far off can it? I'm only paying $19.99 a month for this. Crappy upload but great download though according to my ISP my package only allows for 15.5mb/s though they offer this powerboost thing which makes downloads 2x faster then normal for a period of a minute or so then it slows back down to 15.

You just have to find the right ISP

XileLord

The problem is that they are using an average and a lot of Americans that live out in the country don't have access to cable.

Where does Canada rank? I didn't see a ranking list, just the article.Hahadouken