High speed Internet in Missouri is below average
Well, we might be cruising along the information superhighway faster than than our dial-up neighbors. But it looks like folks in 27 other states have faster high-speed access than the Show-Me State.
Illinois readers, however, can rejoice. Your state ranks just outside the top 10.
This, according to a study just completed by PCMag.com. The site polled tens of thousands of readers around the U.S. to find out who has the fastest and slowest surf speeds
The Top 5 (and their Kbps speed)
- Nevada, 781
- Virginia, 765
- Pennsylvania, 747
- New Jersey, 727
- Connecticut, 716
And the Bottom 5 (and their Kbps speed):
- Iowa, 398
- Vermont, 391
- Wyoming, 379
- Hawaii, 378
- New Mexico, 322
And the ones that matter to us:
- Illinois, 681
- Missouri, 539
One thing I found interesting in this survey was its comparison of DSL and cable. I’ve actually been giving some thought to making the switch to DSL from cable because of the cheaper price. This survey has forced me to rethink that.
The battle between cable and DSL (digital subscriber line) companies seems to have ended, and cable has been declared the victor. According to our results, the average cable service provider gets you online at 688 Kbps, while the average DSL lets you surf at just 469 Kbps—cable connections, on average, are 47 percent faster.
If you wonder how your own speed stacks up, here’s an application to help you find out.
Tim has covered a wide range of topics, including tourism, crime, aviation and gambling, since becoming a reporter in 1990. The Oklahoma native joined the Post-Dispatch in 2007 after spending nine years in Orlando. In his spare time, he's often exploring one virtual world or another. He can be reached at tbarker@post-dispatch.com. 
Woe unto you who have the lack of information or poor judgment to attempt doing business with Charter!
Charter is the main reason I haven’t switched from AT&T DSL even though I am disappointed in the speed of it.
At least I know I’m not imagining that my DSL is too slow.
Yes…Charter is BRUTAL!!! I’ll take a slightly slower speed in place of using Charter any day!!
Like anything else, you have to know what you’re buying. While 688 and 469 kbps sound fast on paper, it’s only a few (10 or so) times faster than dial up. The average speeds for DSL and Cable in the metro area are around 5mbps, or 5120 kbps. Again, it depends on provider. For instance, in the Wentzville area, Century Tel advertises up-to 10mbps service, but upon calling and urging them that I do infact qualify for DSL (I’ve had it before at the same address even though they don’t have any records of my having had an account) they tell me that the best I’ll get is 1.5 mbps. 2 miles down the road and I could qualify for 6mbps DSL with AT&T. For now, I have 5mbps with Charter.
Remember, with DSL, the phone company will pressure you into a land line which comes with more taxes than the comparable service from the cable company, so watch that end of it also, you have to figure in the cost of the phone line and it’s associated taxes if you’re doing a direct DSL internet/Cable internet comparison whereas you only need to figure in an additional $10 for getting “naked” cable without the TV.
There’s no winning when it comes to trying to save money if you require all 3 services. I currently have Charter Digital Television and 5 meg internet and use T-Mobile @ Home for my land line service. I’m paying $100 a month regardless of which combination of the 3 I use, a little more if I go with all Bell services and Satellite.
I know there are a lot of naysayers out there, but I have Charter, haven’t had issues and my internet speed flies compared to some of my friends that refuse to use Charter. It is what it is I guess, but I will take the fast internet speed over the alternative.
Does the average surfer need the difference between 688 kbps and 469 kbps? Probably not.
Woe to those who do business with Charter is correct! Look into AT&T Uverse…
I’ve got the Charter “Bundle” and love it. Fast and reliable. Almost never goes down, but then I live in Illinois.
….Or you could move to Maryland Heights where we have two competing cable companies!! CableAmerica here has very fast connections and great customer service.
We need to explore dimensions other than just speed in broadband access. A major area that’s not counted in studies such as this is broadband caps.
AT&T is currently testing out fairly restrictive bandwidth caps in Reno, Nevada and in Texas, with plans to most likely roll these caps out to the rest of the country next year. Charter has a section in its EULA FAQ that states if the company feels a person is using “excessive” bandwidth, it may terminate their account, without notice, or force them into a higher cost plan. I fully expect the company to implement broadband caps within a year.
With broadband caps, doesn’t matter how fast your broadband is, if you use up your monthly allotment with Netflix or iTunes or WoW, in the first ten days of the month. In fact, faster broadband speeds just mean you hit the cap that much sooner.
I got rid of Charter’s internet last year to save a few bucks with AT&T DSL. Horrible mistake. Maybe I am one of the few but I never had any issues with Charter in St. Charles, but AT&T’s DSL is a joke for speed and performance. Once my contract with AT&T is up I will be going back to Charter.