As most people who’ve ever tried to watch streamed video will know, the experience you get is hugely dependent on the stability and speed of your broadband connection. Nobody appreciates this more than video on demand service Netflix, of course. So the company routinely monitors the speed performance of ISPs across the globe to see which ones are performing the best with its video streams during peak viewing periods. And handily for anyone into watching streamed video, Netflix makes the results of its research public.
The most recent results have just been revealed for numerous territories across the Globe that receive the Netflix service, and they make for interesting reading.
Topping the list in the US is Cox, with an average speed of 3.62Mbps, closely followed by the Cablevision – Optimum platform at 3.59Mbps, and Verizon FIOS (fiber) at 3.54Mbps. This top three remains unchanged from Netflix’s previous published results, though their dominance is now being challenged by Charter, which rose two places from its previous best position to fourth, with an improved average speed of 3.46Mbps.
Propping the US speed league table up are Clearwire, the Verizon DSL system, and Centurylink. The gulf between the best and worst US performers is strikingly extreme, with Clearwire achieving just 1.19Mbps (though to be fair this is the only wireless platform on the US list) and Verizon DSL hitting just 1.9Mbps. Differences of this magnitude really will have a considerable impact on the quality of picture and sound you get when you’re watching Netflix.
Read the entire story here.
