Ookla: Comcast has fastest download speeds for residential Internet

Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA) has the fastest download speeds among U.S. residential Internet providers, according to a recent ranking by Ookla, a broadband speed-testing and web-based network diagnostic applications company based in Kalispell, Mont.

Charter comes in second followed by Cablevision System's Optimum Online, MidContinent Communications and Time Warner
Cable's Road Runner, according to Ookla. When ranking upload speeds, Ookla found that Surewest Broadband was the fastest followed by Verizon Internet Service, AT&T Worldnet, Comcast and Cox Communications.

However, a recent PCMag.com reader survey rated Cox's high-speed data service as the fastest in the country. The results are based on independent speed tests from more than 6,000 people nationwide conducted over a year-long period.

Meanwhile, Ookla is also building an index of broadband costs that so far suggests that residential broadband in the U.S. costs an average of $47.32 per month, and $5.06 per megabits per second of downlaod speed, according to The Seattle Times. Based on download speeds, broadband in California costs $4.24 per Mbps compared to $8.80 per Mbps in Idaho and $3.89 per Mbps in Washington.

For more:
- Seattle Times has this story
- see the Cox Communications release

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