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Every internet service provider wants to claim the title of America's fastest ISP. It gives them bragging rights to shout about how they've got the country's fastest download speeds. As recently as May of this year, we wrote about how Spectrum was named the fastest ISP in the US (based on an Opensignal report). So what does this all mean? These studies don't look at a provider's top speed -- the fastest plan it offers -- but the average internet speed users experience across all plans. In other words, as is often the case with home internet service, many variables (including the internet connection type) exist.
That said, there's a new internet service provider holding the championship belt. AT&T Fiber came out on top as the fastest home internet provider in the US, registering a median download speed of just under 349 megabits per second in tests collected by Ookla from January through June of 2024. This news comes after Cox Communications nabbed first place in the speed test company's previous two reports in the latter half of 2023. So, what changed?
One major factor is that Ookla now tracks AT&T Fiber's performance separately from AT&T Internet, the company's DSL offering, and AT&T Internet Air, its 5G fixed wireless home internet service. That move saw AT&T Fiber register a median download speed of just under 349Mbps, which is quite a jump from the 245Mbps AT&T scored in the previous report from the fourth quarter of 2023.
Overall, AT&T Fiber led Ookla's report with a 360.85 Speed Score, a metric the company uses that considers a provider's download and upload speeds. Verizon, which also boasts a fiber-optic internet service with its Verizon Fios, was running well behind in second place with a Speed Score of 269.47. Three cable internet providers rounded out the top five: Cox, Xfinity and Spectrum.
In previous years, the company would announce the results of all the information it had gathered from the millions of daily customer interactions with its Speedtest.net tool every three months. This is the first time Ookla has released a half-year report, with the current statement covering the first six months of 2024 and giving insight into the performance of the internet services we all increasingly rely upon.
Ookla is an internet speed-test provider that collects data via its Speedtest.net tool, which gathers insights from millions of customer uses of that speed test. CNET frequently uses those findings to help inform our internet service provider reviews. We also use Ookla speed test info to help compare and contrast internet performance from city to city or state to state.
Why do these speed tests matter?
To be included in Ookla's study, an ISP must appear in 3% or more of the test data collected during the six-month window. Some superfast regional providers -- like Ziply Fiber, which offers a super-speedy 50 gigabit (or 50,000Mbps) plan -- might deliver higher median download speeds than the providers shown above but don't reach enough households to meet Ookla's mark for national inclusion.
In CNET's ISP reviews, we stress that while speed test data is helpful and can give a snapshot of your internet connection performance at any given moment, it's not definitive or perfect. Many things can affect a speed test, including whether or not you're using Wi-Fi or a hardwired Ethernet connection, the time of day you're running the test and so on.
Because of those factors, not everyone who uses AT&T Fiber can expect to experience those speeds. Rather, it's a benchmark of what a "typical" US customer might expect from that ISP. An Ookla spokesperson once told CNET that the report aims to "more accurately represent the typical performance that consumers actually experience on a network."
It's tempting to look at reports like these and assume the top-ranking company is the best internet provider across the country. But that's not exactly the case. While AT&T Fiber does rank highly among our overall ISP scores (and it received the highest score among all ISPs in the most recent American Customer Satisfaction Index report), it might not be available in your area, or there could be a regional provider, not represented in Ookla's report, that might provide a more compelling reason for your business. Download speed and speed test results can be important factors in your satisfaction with a broadband provider, but they're not the only thing.