Maine's Internet Among Slowest in the Nation?
Turns out if you've ever had problems connecting to PressHerald.com it's really not our fault. Actually, if you've had problems connecting to any sites using your Internet connection at work or home, don't blame the IT guys...blame the people who connect you to the Internet tubes.
Why?
Because PCMag.com says Maine has the 10th slowest Internet Service Providers in the whole country.
According to a recent survey from the magazine, Maine is ranked 40th in Internet speeds, just 10 spots away from New Mexico with the slowest.
At the top of the list? Nevada.
Well, that may make some sense. While Portland and most of Southern Maine has broadband Internet access, when you head north that changes. If you factor in that a good portion of Maine is rural territory where broadband access is scarce, then sure, we may have slow Internet. On top of that we've got Time Warner, which provides cable Internet but is a source of complaints for some, and a shaky hand-off between Verizon and Fairpoint which will impact a lot of DSL users.
OK, but then how do you explain this tidbit from the survey: The percentage of satisfied Internet users in Maine is 62 percent.
Wha?
So how exactly did the geeks at PCMag.com do this?
"PCMag's "SurfSpeed" app, a utility that grabs pages (and page elements) from several popular Web sites to measure your actual Internet surfing speed -- not the bandwidth allocation your ISP quotes you. In the past few weeks, we've pored over data points collected from more than 17,000 profiles (that is, unique IP addresses) -- comprising over 200,000 individual tests -- to find out which are the fastest ISPs in America."
They also go on to slip in this minor disclaimer: "Additionally, this information comes from readers of PCMag, not the population as a whole...In other words, this information should serve you as a guideline when you're selecting an ISP but is by no means an absolute rating of speed."
According to the Maine Public Advocate's Office, which tracks Internet service issues, the latest data from the FCC says Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont ranked at the bottom of DSL availability.
As for cable Internet, 169,458 cable lines were active the state in 2007 and available to 93% of people with cable TV.
While I don't know if I entirely buy PCMag's findings (and they do leave some wiggle room for questions), it seems like the truth may be somewhere between their numbers and the FCC numbers.
Still, that doesn't compare to what all of you know. Sound off on your Internet access problems!
Posted by at 02:46 PM
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