Speedtest Creator Ookla Ranks Fastest US Mobile Broadband Providers
If you’ve been around for awhile you’ll probably recognize the URL Speedtest.net. It’s a website that can show you the speed of your internet connection. It’s run by Ookla (disclosure: Extremetech’s parent company Ziff Davis also owns Ookla), and the company has analyzed the results of peoples’ tests on its site for Q1 2022. With this info it can now reveal which mobile broadband providers are delivering the most performance. The report is focused on mobile broadband, and the big winner is T-Mobile, in every category it measured. The report also sheds some light on the fastest phones, chipsets, and even the regions that offer the best internet speeds.
When it comes to mobile providers, the three big providers: T-Mobile, Verizon, and AT&T. As we mentioned previously, T-Mobile dominated the proceedings. It lead the pack in median download speed, consistency, 5G download speed, availability, and consistency, and tied with Verizon in latency. T-Mobile’s median download speed of 117.83Mb/s was practically double that of Verizon and AT&T, which offered 62.62Mb/s and 56.10Mb/s, respectively. On its 5G network, it averaged a whopping 191.12Mb/s, which was almost double Verizon’s speed and triple AT&T’s. All three companies offered middling latency figures, with both T-Mobile and Verizon at 31ms, and AT&T bringing up the rear with 34ms. That’s close enough to say it’s a wash in that category. All three companies were also very close when it comes to consistency. Ookla defines that as being able to offer a consistent baseline speed. For 5G and fixed broadband that’s 25Mb/s download and 3Mb/s upload. For mobile it’s 5Mb/s download and 1Mb/s upload.
Ookla’s national averages for download, upload, and latency. (Image: Ookla)
When it comes to the fastest mobile devices, the results will come as no surprise. The leader is Samsung’s flagship Galaxy S22 Ultra, with a median download speed of 116.33Mb/s with 14Mb/s upload. It’s followed the Z Fold3 5G, which is neck-and-neck with Apple’s own flagship, the 13 Pro Max. Both phones averaged about 100Mb/s download speeds with 12Mb/s upload speeds. The iPhone 13 Pro and Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G round out the top five. Of all devices tested overall, both Samsung and Apple’s phones were very close though. Samsung has a slight lead with a median download speed of 62.68Mb/s compared to Apple’s 60.38Mb/s.
When it comes to fastest mobile chipsets, it’s an all-Android leader board. Of the top five four are Qualcomm and one is Tensor-based from Google. The top three are all from Qualcomm, with the top dog being the . This is the SoC that is in the Samsung Galaxy S22, and will likely be in every Android flagship phone in 2022.
Finally, it also noted where the fastest speeds were being offered. Thought one might think it’s somewhere in Silicon Valley, it’s actually Minnesota. The “you betcha” state finished first for mobile download speeds in the US. It offers a median download speed of 92.31Mb/s through T-Mobile. Also all the fastest rankings for states were from T-Mobile as well. It’s notable that the state of California isn’t listed in the top ten fastest cities by Ookla. Minnesota’s capital city, St. Paul, was the fastest US city, offering 136.72Mb/s download speeds. It is followed in the rankings by Tampa, FL.
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