Simple Map Shows Fastest, Slowest States → VA #1 - probably a tie with NJ and NY

VA scoring top does not shock me. Comcast provides high speeds throughout its footprint here (all ex-Adelphia and a huge chunk of the state). Cox service is also good in the state. Verizon's population dense pockets of FIOS in Fairfax, Eastern Loudoun, and the Richmond areas serve to bump the average higher. Dont know much about CenturyLink's ex-Sprint footprint but DSL is pretty common in those areas.

However, do not let this map fool you. There are still major problems. Verizon has a large footprint that remains stuck in the 1980's/90's - many counties are stuck with Comcast or Cox as the only choice. An example of this is Fredrick County - FIOS in 4 or so small new subdivisions, the rest of the county has a Comcast monopoly on broadband.

Areas too rural to be served by either a Cable MSO, ILEC DSL, or ILEC Fiber are really in a bind. WISPs exist but their prices are sky high - they overlap yes but they barely compete. 3mbit for $99 a month and an install fee of $150 is the best deal as it has no caps...another provider offers 1.5mbit for $99 + $350 install and a 1.5gb transfer a day limit.

So, TL;DR Urban/Suburban areas of VA push up the average hiding the poor rural situation. Some counties are worse than others with this - i.e Fredrick forced Adelphia to build out in a majority of the county, Loudoun let Loudoun Cablevision slide and just build out in the small pockets of population centers leaving rural western loudoun with mostly nothing outside of towns.

You're right on about Loudoun county!

This report must measure speed for only those who have service.

I live in Loudoun, 40 miles from the White House and 8 miles from the Ashburn/Dulles datacenter complexes, but have ZERO options for broadband - dialup or satellite only!

The county let Verizon and Comcast cherry pick the highest density areas & skip the rest. They ignore county contracts that require them to serve areas with greater than 15 houses per mile, while the county board of supervisors is afraid to take them on (campaign contributions?)

Are you in west or east? I know of some WISP's you could try but it's not that great. Waterford has a CLEC offering DSL now - they had the audacity to make VZ use its ancient copper for something other than dial tone.

Also, when T-Mobile completes its LTE rollout they may be an option for you. Their coverage in Loudoun is pretty good even in the rural spots.

Virginia is also headquarters of the CIA and TISCOM. You know Uncle Sam ain't got time for DSL.

Yeah, the ILEC's and MSO's give great service to Uncle Sam. But as for us peon citizenry...its not as clear cut.

Trust me I know how much FedGov is around, I live in this state. Its the major employer and a source of the wealth in the area (FedJobs + Contractors)

If Uncle Sam had to deal with a VZ T-1 as its only outgoing connection you would see broadband fixed so fast

VA ranks 10th on Ookla list, though different methodology..
»www.netindex.com/downloa ··· -States/

West. I'm familiar with the WISPs. Shakey 1 MBS service for $99/month, assuming that you have line-of-sight to their tower. Not exactly "broadband"....

LTE is capped, right? Not much use for home broadband.

I've gotten used to having a cup of coffee while my kids do their homework at the coffee shop.

Loudoun county government won't do anything to fix roads or enforce the broadband contracts. They do get the tax bills out on time.

Moved here from Texas last year. I lived in the boonies there & had great broadband with a choice of 2 ISPs. Sadly, it never occurred to me to ask about broadband. Hard to imagine that a county like Loudoun would lack service. I didn't ask about electricty or copper phone lines either. I guess I got lucky there

Yeah, T-Mobile LTE with the unlimited plan has a tethering cap. But no overages.

If you live in a rural subdivision, you could try out this form and submit it to the county, you will need neighbors signatures:

»www.loudoun.gov/index.as ··· NID=3094

I dont know if anyone ever got service due to completing that form. Might be a pipe dream but worth a shot?

That's exactly the problem. VA doesn't have universal coverage. Sure, FIOS brings the average up, but here in CT, where we only have FIOS in one town, we have 100% cable build-out, so no one is left behind, even if their cable company sucks, and can deliver "only" 25mbps...

"only" 25mbps would be a godsend to many of the people in undeserved areas of the nation. VA is not the only one where broadband deployment virtually skipped over the rural areas for the most part unfortunately :/

After all, the minimum definition of broadband per the FCC will soon be raised from 6 to 10mbit, so 25 is well over that minimum definition.

25mbit DOCSIS cable is a lot better than 3mbit ADSL from the ILEC for sure.

I'm rural and have a 50/5 connection

For the most part rural broadband is hard to find - there thankfully are exceptions. Some counties did better than others in negotiating franchise agreements with Cable MSO's.

Some were rather non-forceful and said "do what you want we don't care - so long as the Board of Supervisors can get it were happy". Others mandated near universal service.

Do you know the density of homes per mile in your area? Around here it has to be 30+ for Comcast to be forced to build, with distances of 150ft from home to tap for free install, with that 30+ home clump within 1mi of existing Comcast facilities....

82.43 per sq mile: »zipskinny.com/index.php? ··· ip=23035 and our small community insisted that the Board of Supervisors get us broadband ...and they did

Wow, you all have less housing units and people per sq.mi but our dumb county just left most of our ZIP in the dust:
»zipskinny.com/index.php? ··· &x=0&y=0

The two towns and surrounding dense subdivisions get service, I am lucky to live in one. The outer areas typically have nothing, excluding 2 or 3 roads where Comcast built randomly.

Only 2 Verizon CO's out of 8 even offer DSL, one offers FIOS to like 2 subdivisions and a stretch of rural road (to get to a new subdivision)...

Your community did a good job getting Metrocast to build out then - how much of a battle was it with the BoS to get them to move?

Yup agree. I know someone who lives in Virginia, less than 5 miles from one of the biggest growing parts of the city and they are using 3G for Internet since both Cable & Fios run all around their subdivision but never in it.

I was trying to help her get an antenna & amplifier from 3GStore to help improve their speeds.

not much of a battle, after all .. they wanted it as much of the rest of us. There is zero business growth in a community that does not have broadband ... and that needs to be wired - not wireless

Yeah, that's my point. Here in CT, the bad connectivity is way better than some rural areas. And that includes Charter's monster system in the quiet corner, where there are some moderately rural areas with low density.

It's not a technological issue, it's just a political issue to have the will to force build out. Except for the most insanely rural areas, both HFC and FTTH will deliver excellent broadband speeds...

That sucks hardcore for people who can't get real broadband, as it is probably tough to even sell their house without it...

Loudoun county government won't do anything to fix roads or enforce the broadband contracts. They do get the tax bills out on time.

ha ha. In my early sixties, work IT at a High School for the last 20 years, and hear and understand what you are saying, but for it to change , we have to reboot and get younger people involved to make it happen and unfortunately they are very apathetic (hope correct word and spelling) Our leadership was designed to be "old" for a reason I guess JMT...........