Charter Communications has claimed the top download speeds for the second quarter in a row, but cable rivals Cox and Comcast weren’t far behind, according to Ookla’s Q2 2023 Speedtest Intelligence report.
Charter’s Spectrum touted a median download speed of 243.02 Mbps in Q2, which was a boost from the 234.80 Mbps speeds the operator posted in Q1.
Cox narrowly trailed Charter with a rate of 241.78 Mbps, bumping up its download speeds from 219.20 Mbps in the prior quarter. Comcast’s Xfinity was behind both Charter and Cox with speeds of 233.25 Mbps – just a slight increase from the 232.85 download rate posted in Q1.
Rounding out the download rankings were AT&T (210.12 Mbps), Frontier (200.95 Mbps), Altice USA’s Optimum (200.41 Mbps) and Verizon (184.03 Mbps).
On the state level, Spectrum was the fastest fixed broadband provider in 11 states, with Xfinity fastest in eight. Google Fiber and Verizon were the fastest ISPs in five and four states, respectively, while Cox scored the highest marks in two states.
Allo, Bluepeak, C Spire, EPB, Frontier, GCI, MetroNet and Midco each claimed the fastest internet speeds in one state for Q2. Ookla said results were too close to call the fastest provider in 12 states and Washington D.C.
Although cable came out on top in download speeds, Ookla’s analysis indicated the three cable giants continued to lag in upload rates compared to their competitors.
AT&T took home the upload crown with a median rate of 166.86 Mbps, with Frontier nabbing the second-place spot at 164.84 Mbps. Those were the only providers to boast triple-digit uplink speeds, but Verizon came in third with a median rate of 96.14 Mbps.
Optimum took fourth place with 28.92 Mbps, while Comcast (21.83 Mbps), Cox (20.63 Mbps) and Charter (13.79 Mbps) comprised the last three spots of Ookla’s upload rankings.
As Fierce has previously noted, cable operators are still largely focused on offering asymmetrical speed tiers, even as they begin upgrading their networks to DOCSIS 4.0. Whereas fiber providers, like AT&T and Frontier, are doubling down on symmetrical speeds.