If you ever wanted to know how well your broadband ISP is actually performing, look no further than Ookla, which has added ISP performance rankings to its Net Index.
Consumers will be able to use the tool to determine if the hype behind the speeds their providers advertise is actually performing as advertised. The new index feature will provide ISP ratings that are compiled from end-user data collected from over one million daily tests conducted on Ookla's Speedtest.net site.
To access the free daily Net Index ISP rankings, users just have to choose the appropriate index--download, upload or quality--and then their particular geographic region. Each ISP will be given a 1 to 5 star rating based on user input. Users can then take this information to make a decision about whether to switch to another ISP or assess ISPs in another location if they are moving.
According to recent ISP rankings, Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA), followed by Charter, Cablevision's (NYSE: CVC) Optimum Online, MidContinent Communications and Road Runner currently round out the top five residential service providers in terms of download speed performance. However, Surewest (Nasdaq: SURW) broadband leads the upload speed race, followed by Verizon Internet Services (NYSE:VZ), AT&T Worldnet (NYSE: T), Comcast and Cox.
Ookla's capabilities come at a time when telecom regulators are starting to call out carriers on the actual broadband speeds they are delivering. A new Ofcom survey revealed that many of the UK's ISPs aren't actually delivering the speeds they promise in their advertisements.
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