Test Shows Big Increase in U.S. Internet Speeds on Mobile and Fixed Broadband

The recently released Q2 2020 Speedtest® United States Market Report by Ookla® collected data from over 1.6 million mobile user devices and 18.9 million fixed broadband devices showed a significant jump in speeds. The study showed increased speeds of 15.8 percent on mobile and 19.6 percent on fixed broadband in the U.S. during the second quarter of 2020. Mobile finding highlights included:

• Fastest Providers: Speedtest Intelligence® reveals AT&T was the fastest mobile operator in the U.S. in Q2 2020 with a Speed Score™ of 41.23 on modern chipsets in competitive geographies. T-Mobile was the second fastest, Sprint third and Verizon Wireless fourth. Although Sprint merged with T-Mobile earlier this year, Ookla said they considered the companies’ performance separately here as the networks have not been fully integrated. They said they will combine their results when the integration is complete.

• Latency: Calculating median latency for the four top mobile providers in competitive geographies in the U.S. during Q2 2020, T-Mobile had the lowest latency at 31 ms. Verizon Wireless was second (33 ms) and AT&T third (35 ms). Sprint showed the highest latency (39 ms).

• 4G Availability: Examining the percentage of an operator’s known locations where a device has access to 4G LTE service, Ookla found that Sprint and Verizon Wireless tied for having the best 4G Availability in competitive geographies in the U.S. during Q2 2020 at 99.0%. AT&T was third (97.8%) and T-Mobile fourth (97.5%).

• 5G Performance: As of July 5, 2020, there were 5,164 cities with commercially available 5G deployments in the U.S. according to the Ookla 5G Map™. T-Mobile had the majority of these deployments with 5,013. AT&T had 237 deployments and Verizon Wireless 39. The number of T-Mobile 5G deployments suggests that they had significantly more 5G coverage as of Q2 than the other carriers combined. This conclusion is also supported by Ookla data. While Sprint did show 5G results during Q2 2020, T-Mobile has since shut down those sites. Looking only at tests taken on a 5G connection, Verizon Wireless had the fastest Speed Score in the U.S. in Q2 2020 at 870.50. AT&T was second (78.68), Sprint third (64.82) and T-Mobile fourth (64.26).
• Device Information: An analysis of performance on some of the most popular flagship phones available from multiple operators in the U.S. demonstrated the Samsung Galaxy S10 5G showed the fastest median download speed during Q2 2020 with 57.56 Mbps. The Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G was second (51.18 Mbps), the V60 ThinQ 5G third (47.41 Mbps) and the Google Pixel 4 XL fourth (44.60 Mbps). The iPhone 11 Pro Max was the slowest phone on the list with a median download speed of 40.18 Mbps. The Galaxy S10 5G only supports the millimeter wave (mmWave) band, except the Sprint variant which uses 2.5 GHz mid-band 5G. The Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G and V60 ThinQ 5G support both mmWave and sub-6GHz 5G. Neither the Pixel 4 XL nor the iPhone 11 Pro Max supports 5G.
• Manufacturer Information: Ookla examined combined performance by five major cell phone manufacturers and found that devices from OnePlus had the fastest median download speed in the U.S. during Q2 2020 at 41.98 Mbps. OnePlus devices also showed the fastest median upload speed (10.58 Mbps) and lowest latency (28 ms). Samsung devices showed the second fastest download speed (32.93 Mbps), Google devices were third (30.58 Mbps) and LG devices fourth (29.83 Mbps). Apple showed the slowest download speed during this period (27.87 Mbps), likely because there is not yet a 5G-capable iPhone on the market.

• Regional Speeds: The District of Columbia was the fastest “state” for median download speed on mobile at 42.74 Mbps during Q2 2020. Delaware was second, New Jersey third, New York fourth and Rhode Island fifth. Wyoming was the slowest state in the U.S. for mobile download speed (16.10 Mbps). Mississippi was second slowest, followed by Maine, Iowa and Vermont. AT&T was the fastest operator based on Speed Score on modern chipsets in 38 states plus the District of Columbia. T-Mobile was the fastest in eight states, Sprint in three and Verizon Wireless in one.
• City Speeds: Looking at Q2 2020 mobile performance in the 100 most populous cities in the U.S., Pittsburgh showed the fastest median download speed (48.05 Mbps). New York, New York was second fastest, followed by Washington, D.C.; Columbus, Ohio and Jersey City, New Jersey. Laredo, Texas was the slowest city on our list for the third year in a row when looking at median download speed on mobile. Stockton, California was the second slowest, followed by Fresno, California; Madison, Wisconsin and Lubbock, Texas. AT&T was the fastest mobile operator in 79 of the most populous cities in the U.S. during Q2 2020 based on Speed Score on modern chipsets. Verizon Wireless was the fastest in nine cities. T-Mobile was fastest in seven cities and Sprint was fastest in five.