Grappling with a fading, pulsating downright irritating internet connection today, how ironic that I am trying to publish a short sharp post related to SpeedMatters!

High speed internet my ass

SpeedMatters have a cool USA-wide test for internet download and upload speeds. Once the fun is over, they offer all sorts of comparisons to perk your interest in the fact that the USA is sooo far behind the rest of the world in matters of internet, it isn't funny.

Seriously, if you are happy with your internet connection, you are being stiffed.

The report showed a national median download speed of a sluggish 1.9 megabits per second (mbps). Compare that to median speeds of 61 mbps in Japan, 45 mbps in South Korea, and 17 mbps in France, and it's clear that the U.S. is falling far behind. Median upload speed in the U.S. was an exceedingly slow 371 kilobits per second.

Their findings are so disturbing, that the organisers have drafted a letter to Congress begging them to make internet accessible to the masses. (Action you can take.)

For instance only a few percent of the 80,000 who took the speed test were on dial up. (I think only people with zippy Comcast connections did the test to feel good about how fast their line is, but who am I to judge?) The scary thing however, is, 40% of all US internet users are actually on dial-up, so the dismal results from the SpeedMatter guys were actually the most optimistically skewed figures could have produced!

I wonder if the asterisks explaining the lop-sided cross-section of testers will be rubbed out by the politicians and when they re-present the info to the public, they will say it isn't half as bad as the lobbyists make out because America has the fastest dial up in the world!

It is the truth that counts.

Bottom line, the SpeedMatters report is an indication that large swathes of rural America are missing out completely on the world wide web. Meanwhile, the rest are rolling along content with their hi-tech status, unaware that they are operating at an expensive snail's pace compared to the impoverished citizens in other nations. Imagine the glee of working in S. Korea or France, screaming through your surfing and on-line work days in triple quick time.

The USA is lagging, according to SpeedMatters, and, any which way you spin it, the internet service is appalling for a developed country touting itself as efficient. Take the test, and do your bit to increase the bytes you can play with on-line. Remember, the French work 35 hour weeks. If you had their internet service, you could go home an hour or three earlier every day!!

Out of interest, leave your results in Comments, and show us what you got!