Author: Sue Marek

Sue Marek is Ookla’s editorial director and part of the company’s analyst team. She oversees the company’s thought leadership and editorial content. Sue is a journalist with more than 30 years of experience covering the telecom industry and her work has appeared in Fierce Network, Light Reading, and SDxCentral. She is a frequent speaker at industry events and has moderated panels at Mobile World Las Vegas, Connect(x), the Consumer Electronics Show, the Competitive Carriers’ Show and 5G North America. Sue has a B.S. in journalism from the University of Colorado.
Ookla Research™ Articles
| December 15, 2025

U.S. FWA Providers: Seasonal Slump or Victim of Their Own Success?

FWA

T-Mobile is the FWA speed leader with a median download speed which is approximately double that of AT&T.

5G fixed wireless access (FWA) is a popular and growing broadband option in the U.S. with the top three U.S. FWA providers —T-Mobile, AT&T and Verizon —  adding 1.04 million new subscribers in Q3 2025 bringing the total number of FWA customers to 14.7 million, which is slightly more than 12.5% of the 117.4 million U.S. households with broadband, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2024 American Community Survey. 

In Ookla’s March 2025 U.S. FWA report, we tracked download and upload speeds from Q1 2023 to Q4 2024 and found that overall FWA speeds were on the upswing over time with T-Mobile leading its peers in both median download and upload speeds.

According to recent Ookla Speedtest Intelligence® data, T-Mobile maintains its FWA leadership position with median download speed of 209.06 Mbps for Q3 2025, which is approximately double that of AT&T’s median download speed of 104.63 Mbps in the same quarter. 

However, there was a noticeable decline in all three providers’ download and upload speeds during Q2 2025 and Q3 2025, which may be a seasonal pattern as we saw a similar decline in median upload speeds for all three operators in Q2 and Q3 2024 and a decline in download speeds for AT&T and Verizon in Q2 and Q3 2024. It’s also possible that this may be an early indication that strong uptake in FWA is starting to impact performance. 

Key Takeaways

  • Speedtest users from all three U.S. FWA providers—T-Mobile, Verizon and AT&T—experienced declines in both their median download and upload speeds during Q2 2025 and Q3 2025. 
  • T-Mobile is the FWA speed leader. T-Mobile’s median download speed of 209.06 Mbps in Q3 2025 is approximately double AT&T’s median download speed of 104.63 Mbps in the same quarter.
  • AT&T and T-Mobile customers in the 10th percentile of users are experiencing speed declines during peak hours in the late afternoon and evening. Verizon subscribers in the 10th percentile don’t have the same sorts of declines, indicating the operator’s enforcement of speed caps may be helping it deliver a more consistent experience to those customers.
  • AT&T Internet Air’s latency is higher than its peers but it’s improving. In Q3 AT&T’s median latency was 67 milliseconds (ms) compared to Verizon at 54 ms and T-Mobile at 50 ms. However,  AT&T’s latency is improving every quarter from a high of 78 ms in Q3 2024.

Seasonal dip in speeds or network congestion?

Verizon, T-Mobile and AT&T all experienced a decline in median download speeds in Q2 and Q3 2025. T-Mobile’s median download speeds dipped from 221.65 Mbps in Q1 2025 to 209.06 Mbps in Q3 2025, Verizon’s declined from 167.30 Mbps in Q1 2025 to 137.81 Mbps in Q3 2025 and AT&T’s dropped from 114.34 Mbps to 104.363 Mbps over the same time period.  

Ookla Speedtest data saw a similar trend for Verizon and AT&T during Q2 and Q3 2024. FWA users from both operators experienced a decline in median speeds during these two quarters but T-Mobile does not. Verizon Speedtest users experienced a decline in their median download speeds from 140.14 Mbps in Q1 2024 to 115.68 Mbps in Q3 2024 before bouncing back to 150.47 Mbps in Q4 2024. 

AT&T Internet Air users also saw a decline from 141.28 Mbps in Q1 2024 to 130.13 Mbps in Q3 2024. However, unlike Verizon, AT&T’s median download speeds didn’t bounce back up. In fact, users of AT&T Internet Air service experienced a steady decline from Q1 2024 median download speeds of 141.28 Mbps to 104.63 Mbps in Q3 2025. AT&T doesn’t guarantee speeds for its Internet Air service but says that users can expect download speeds from 90 Mbps to 300 Mbps and upload speeds from 8 Mbps to 30 Mbps. 

Upload speeds also declined with T-Mobile’s median upload speed dropping from 24.03 Mbps in Q1 2025 to 15.49 Mbps in Q3 2025. Likewise, Verizon’s median upload speed declined from 15.23 Mbps in Q1 2025 to 11.40 Mbps in Q3 2025 and AT&T’s dropped from 13.13 Mbps to 9.25 Mbps during the same time period. 

It’s not clear that these fluctuations in speeds that we are seeing are due to seasonality or if it’s an indicator of network congestion. 

The impact of foliage on FWA speeds is common knowledge among RF engineers. The signal loss typically occurs during the spring and summer months (Q2 and Q3) when deciduous trees are filled with dense leaves that can weaken FWA signals. While this phenomenon is more evident with FWA signals in higher bandwidth spectrum such as millimeter wave (mmWave), it also causes degradation in mid-band spectrum in areas with a lot of trees, such as suburban and urban neighborhoods with tree-lined streets. 

However, network congestion could also be a factor. There have long been concerns from the investment community and others about traffic from FWA subscribers causing congestion and impacting the performance of both mobile and FWA customers because the same 5G spectrum is being used to deliver both services. We will continue to monitor the network speeds of FWA subscribers to see if this is an ongoing pattern. 

A Comparison of AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon's FWA s Median Download and Upload Speeds
Q3 2023 through Q3 2025
A comparison of FWA providers median download and upload speed over time.

90th percentile showcases rise in AT&T’s download speeds

 Although AT&T Internet Air’s median download speeds have declined over time from a high of 134.77 Mbps in Q2 2024 to a low of 104.83 Mbps, when we look at the experience of Speedtest users in the 90th percentile (those that get the best user experience) AT&T’s download speeds climb from 351.93 Mbps in Q2 2024 to 411.38 Mbps in Q3 2025.  

We may see more improvements to AT&T’s Internet Air performance in the coming months. The company cut a deal with EchoStar to pay $23 billion to purchase a 20MHz swath of 600 MHz spectrum and a 30MHz chunk of 3.45 GHz spectrum licenses. Together the licenses cover 400 markets across the U.S. The deal isn’t expected to close until mid-2026, but AT&T said in mid-November that it has already outfitted 23,000 cell sites with gear that can use the 3.45 GHz spectrum and is expecting both its 5G mobile and Internet Air FWA customers to benefit from that additional spectrum quickly.

With AT&T’s acquisition of EchoStar’s spectrum the company is expected to be more aggressive in its expansion of the FWA service but its overall strategy hasn’t changed. During its Q3 2025 earnings call with investors company executives said they still consider FWA as a flexible broadband option that will be used to capture market share in areas where fiber is not yet available.  

Like AT&T, T-Mobile’s 90th percentile users see their speeds increase dramatically from 402.49 Mbps in Q1 2024 to 482.36 Mbps in Q3 2025. 

The 90th percentile data also shows that Verizon is still enforcing its FWA data speed caps at 300 Mbps for download speeds and 20 Mbps for upload speeds, which the operator spells out in its 5G Home broadband price plan disclosures. We first wrote about this in our March 2025 report. 

T-Mobile and AT&T may not be enforcing data speed caps like Verizon, however both providers disclose in their Terms of Service that they will temporarily slow speeds during times of network congestion and it appears that they may be doing that during peak hours (see below).

U.S. 5G FWA 90th Percentile Download and Upload Speeds
Q3 2023 through Q3 2025
A comparison of FWA providers 90th percentile download and upload speed over time.

T-Mobile, AT&T FWA users see speed variations during the day

When looking at the download speeds of the 10th percentile of Speedtest users by hour of day in Q3 2025, we see that AT&T and T-Mobile customers, in particular, are experiencing speed declines during peak hours starting in the late afternoon and progressing through the evening with the lowest speed occurring between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. 

However, it’s interesting to note that Verizon’s 10th percentile Speedtest users are not experiencing the same speed variations during those peak hours. As part of its network management, Verizon caps its speeds at 300 Mbps download and 20 Mbps upload and this network optimization scheme may be allowing them to better allocate network resources so they can deliver a more consistent customer experience. 

It’s also likely that some of the AT&T and T-Mobile speed declines that we see during the peak hours may be due to the operators temporarily reducing the speeds of their FWA users during periods of heavy network traffic.

U.S. 5G FWA Customer Download Speeds by Hour of Day
Q3 2025
10th percentile download speeds (Mbps)

AT&T’s latency is higher than peers

AT&T’s median multi-server latency is consistently higher than its peers. In Q3 AT&T’s median latency was 67 milliseconds (ms) compared to Verizon at 54 ms and T-Mobile at 50 ms. However, it appears that AT&T’s latency is improving every quarter from a high of 78 ms in Q3 2024. Latency is a key measurement for FWA subscribers and higher latency will impact real-time applications such as online gaming and video conferencing. 

AT&T was a late entrant to the FWA space, having launched its Internet Air service in August 2023. The company says it only deploys the service in areas with enough wireless coverage and capacity to deliver FWA service without impacting its mobile service.

U.S. 5G FWA Median Multi-server Latency
Q3 2023 through Q3 2025
A comparison of FWA providers Median Latency over time.

Urban FWA users are more likely to receive 100/20 Mbps broadband speeds

A higher percentage of urban FWA users across all three providers are experiencing the FCC’s minimum standard for broadband of 100 Mbps download speed and 20 Mbps upload speed than rural FWA users. Ookla uses the Census Bureau’s urban-rural classification to determine which users are urban vs. rural. 

We compared the percentage of urban vs. rural FWA users from each provider that experience speeds of 100/20 Mbps in Q3 2025 and found that 42% of T-Mobile’s urban FWA subscribers experience speeds of 100/20 Mbps compared to 26.9% of its rural FWA customers. 

In addition, 25.7% of Verizon’s urban FWA subscribers experience the FCC’s minimum standard for broadband compared to 14.7% of its rural FWA customers. 

AT&T also has more urban FWA subscribers experiencing the minimum broadband speeds with 21% compared to 16.7% of its rural customers.

It’s important to note that the lag in median upload speeds is the primary reason that FWA users are not meeting the FCC’s minimum standard for broadband service. As noted above, median upload speeds for all providers in Q3 2025 were below the 20 Mbps threshold. 

The higher percentage of urban FWA users experiencing broadband speeds than rural users is likely due in part to urban users having closer proximity to cell sites than rural users. In cities FWA cell sites are much closer together due to the density of the population which means signals don’t have to travel as far to reach customers. In rural areas homes are more spread out and FWA signals have to travel farther which means the signal is degraded and speeds are slower. 

The Percentage of Urban vs. Rural FWA Users that Experience the FCC's Minimum Standard for Broadband
Q2 2025 vs. Q3 2025
The percentage of FWA Speedtest users that are able to get the FCC's inimum standard of broadband of 100 Mbps download and 20 Mbps upload speeds in the U.S.

Upper C-band auction may supercharge FWA

While those 1.04 million FWA subscribers that the big three operators added in Q3 is up slightly over Q2 2025 when AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile added a total of 935,000 in the quarter, analysts at New Street Research predict a slight slowdown in FWA subscriber additions in 2026 to around 3.6 million for the year, down from the 3.7 million to 3.8 million that the U.S. has experienced over the past three years. New Street said it expects Verizon and T-Mobile’s subscriber additions to slow but AT&T’s will hold steady since it’s a newer entrant in the market. 

This slowdown in subscriber additions will happen as fiber buildout accelerates and more fiber subscribers are added and as the total number of broadband households nears saturation. 

Both T-Mobile and Verizon have increased their long-term FWA targets to 12 million customers by 2028 for T-Mobile and 8 million to 9 million FWA subscribers by 2028 for Verizon. However, New Street did note that the FCC’s proposed auction of the upper C-band spectrum could provide additional capacity for the mobile operators and result in another four million FWA subscribers beyond those original goals. That C-band spectrum auction isn’t expected to occur until 2027 so the impact of this new spectrum may still be several years away.  

Besides the possible auction of upper C-band spectrum, there are other notable developments in the FWA space:

  • Verizon announced in October that it is purchasing fixed wireless ISP Starry, which currently delivers broadband to about 100,000 subscribers in multi-dwelling units (MDU) in five markets. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2026. Verizon plans to integrate Starry’s mmWave technology with its own mmWave spectrum assets and leverage its fiber footprint for backhaul so it can deliver broadband to more MDU environments.
  • Besides AT&T’s acquisition of spectrum from EchoStar that was mentioned above, the company also received approval in early December from the FCC for its $1 billion purchase of 3.45 GHz mid-band and 700 MHz low-band licenses from UScellular. This additional 3.45 GHz spectrum is particularly valuable for 5G and FWA and will likely allow AT&T to expand its FWA service into new markets. 

We expect U.S. operators to aggressively pursue the FWA market in the coming year and we will continue to monitor the FWA customer experience as these operators expand their offerings. 

To find out more about Speedtest Intelligence® data and insights, visit our website.  

Ookla retains ownership of this article including all of the intellectual property rights, data, content graphs and analysis. This article may not be quoted, reproduced, distributed or published for any commercial purpose without prior consent. Members of the press and others using the findings in this article for non-commercial purposes are welcome to publicly share and link to report information with attribution to Ookla.

FWA

About the author

Sue Marek

Sue Marek is Ookla’s editorial director and part of the company’s analyst team. She oversees the company’s thought leadership and editorial content. Sue is a journalist with more than 30 years of experience covering the telecom industry and her work has appeared in Fierce Network, Light Reading, and SDxCentral. She is a frequent speaker at industry events and has moderated panels at Mobile World Las Vegas, Connect(x), the Consumer Electronics Show, the Competitive Carriers’ Show and 5G North America. Sue has a B.S. in journalism from the University of Colorado.

More Articles

Ookla Research™ Articles
| November 17, 2025

WISP Report Card: Data Shows Most Fail FCC’s 100/20 Mbps Benchmark

Network Evolution

Wireless ISPs face a growing threat from LEO satellite providers like Starlink that can reach rural users with faster download speeds.

There are around 2,000 U.S. wireless internet service providers (WISPs) and about nine million Americans get their internet service from these companies, according to the Wireless ISP Association (WISPA).  Many of these WISPs are very small and provide service to just a few hundred customers. 

WISPs have become more prevalent over the past few years largely due to the introduction of vendor equipment that makes it possible to more cost-effectively deliver better coverage using unlicensed spectrum and commercial off-the-shelf hardware.

WISPs deliver their services using fixed wireless access (FWA) but they tend to be smaller and focused on certain markets such as rural areas or apartment complexes than the large telcos like Verizon, T-Mobile or AT&T, which also use FWA technology to deliver broadband services across the country. However, unlike the WISPs, these operators don’t consider broadband to be their primary business. 

Using Ookla’s Speedtest Intelligence® data, we examined the performance of eight of the larger U.S. WISPs—Etheric Networks, GeoLinks, NextLink Internet, Resound Networks, Rise Broadband, Starry, Unwired Broadband, and Wisper Internet — from Q1 2021 through Q2 2025. For those providers that offer both FWA and fiber, we categorized users with upload speeds under 100 Mbps as FWA customers to distinguish them from fiber users. While all eight of the WISPs that we monitored improved their median download speeds during that time period, their performance varies greatly. 

Key Takeaways

  • Starry, which is being acquired by Verizon, delivered the highest median download speeds (202.25 Mbps in Q2 2025) of all eight U.S. WISPs that we studied. 
  • GeoLinks delivered the slowest median download speeds (22.74 Mbps in Q2 2025) of the WISPs we reviewed. Its users in the 75th percentile (those in the upper end of the typical speed range) experienced download speeds of 56.58 Mbps in Q2 2025.  We measured GeoLinks customers in its California markets where the company currently uses an older platform on 5 GHz spectrum.
  • Because of Starry’s faster speeds, the WISP was able to deliver the FCC’s minimum requirement for broadband speeds of 100/20 Mbps to 66.88% of Speedtest users in Q2 2025. 
  • WISPs face a growing threat from low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellite providers like Starlink, which can reach rural users with download speeds that are often faster than WISPs. 
  • To continue to compete  in the broadband space, WISPs need to find ways to secure more spectrum to avoid network congestion and interference.

The Many Flavors of WISPs

The performance of WISPs in the U.S. is under scrutiny right now because of recent changes that the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) made to the Broadband Equity and Deployment (BEAD)  program. In June 2025 the NTIA revamped BEAD to provide a technology-neutral approach and prioritize cost-per-location.This means that instead of favoring fiber, other technologies such as low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellite and FWA can compete with fiber for BEAD funding. The revisions also include a rule to ensure that bids go to the lowest-cost bidders.

States revised their BEAD applications and re-submitted them using the new guidance. Early indications are that many states plan to use FWA for at least a portion of their BEAD eligible locations. Connected Nation, a non-profit that monitors the digital divide, found that states have awarded 11.7% of eligible locations to FWA providers, and many of those FWA providers are categorized as wireless ISPs (WISPs). 

We analyzed the performance of eight of the largest U.S. WISPs over several quarters from Q1 2021 until Q2 2025. However, it’s important to note that all of these companies vary greatly in terms of their spectrum holdings, their business models, their coverage areas, and their vendor equipment, which drives a large variance in performance outcomes. 

Nevertheless, it’s notable that all eight of the WISPs we monitored improved their median download speeds during that time period. They also improved their median upload speeds, but to a much lesser extent. 

Starry outpaced all the others and recorded the highest median download speeds. In Q2 2025 Starry’s median download speed was 202.25 Mbps, which is more than double that of the Resound Networks with a median download speed of 99.41 Mbps in Q2 2025. Starry also was nearly nine times higher in median download speeds than the slowest of the eight WISPs, GeoLinks, which had a median download speed of just 22.74 Mbps in Q2 2025. 

A Comparison of WISPs Median Download and Upload Speeds
Q1 2021 through Q2 2025
A comparison of WISPs median download and upload speed over time.

The eight WISPs and their coverage areas

NameStates where WISP operatesSpectrum used
Etheric NetworksCalifornia2.4 MHz, 5.8 GHz unlicensed and 28 GHz licensed
GeoLinksCalifornia, Arizona, and Nevadaunlicensed 5 GHz, LMDS 29-31 GHz spectrum, unlicensed 59-71 GHz spectrum
NextLinkTexas, Oklahoma, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, and Nebraska2.4 MHz, 5 GHz, and 6 GHz
Resound Networks

Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas6 GHz unlicensed, 5 GHz unlicensed, and 3.65 GHz licensed
Rise Broadband16 states including Colorado, Nebraska, Illinois, Iowa, Texas and Southern Wisconsin unlicensed 5 GHz, unlicensed 3.65 GHz, licensed 2.5 GHz, and some TV white space spectrum at 470-698 MHz
Starry BroadbandMajor cities such as Boston, Denver, Los Angeles, New York City and Washington, DC37 GHz licensed, 24 GHz licensed, some 5 GHz unlicensed
Unwired BroadbandCalifornia unlicensed 6 GHz
Wisper WirelessOklahoma, Kansas, Indiana, and Illinois 3.5 GHz (CBRS), 5.1 GHz, and maybe 6 GHz

Most WISPs struggle to deliver the FCC’s minimum broadband speeds to their customers 

All of the eight WISPs use a different configuration of spectrum licenses. Most are reliant upon some combination of low-, mid-, or high-band licensed and unlicensed spectrum. In addition, many have deployed fiber either as an alternative to their FWA service or to use to carry backhaul or middle-mile traffic. 

While using unlicensed spectrum means that a WISP can launch services quickly without having to purchase costly spectrum licenses, it also means that congestion and interference can result in the WISP having to carefully manage demand for their services. 

Using Speedtest data collected in Q2 2025 we compared the median download and upload speeds of the eight WISPs to determine what percentage of their Speedtest users were receiving the FCC’s minimum standard for fixed broadband speeds (100 Mbps downstream/20 Mbps upstream).   

Starry, which has mmWave spectrum licenses and uses proprietary equipment, is able to provide the FCC’s minimum standard for broadband to the highest percentage of users at 66.9%.  In contrast Rise Broadband, which primarily operates with unlicensed spectrum in the 5 GHz band and in the 3.55 GHz to 3.7 GHz bands (CBRS), but also uses some licensed spectrum in the 2.5 GHz band, is able to provide the FCC’s minimum requirement for broadband to just 6.7% of its users. 

WISPs% of Speedtest users achieving wireless broadband speeds of 100/20 Mbps
Starry66.9%
Resound Networks41.5%
Wisper Internet 26.0%
NextLink 24.4%
Unwired 21.8%
GeoLinks8.7%
Etheric 8.4%
Rise Broadband 6.7%

mmWave’s bigger pipe doesn’t always equal faster speeds

Starry, GeoLinks and Etheric all use some combination of high-band spectrum to deliver their FWA services. The benefits of this spectrum is it can deliver faster speeds and carry bandwidth-intensive applications. But it also requires line-of-sight or near-line-of-sight to work because of potential interference from buildings, trees, and even rain. 

Among the three providers that use mmWave spectrum we saw dramatic differences with Starry significantly outperforming GeoLinks and Etheric, which suggest that Starry has a greater penetration of mmWave spectrum among its customer base that is benefitting the WISP. 

Starry

Starry uses a proprietary technology with base stations that cover a radius of about one mile and its system operates on shared spectrum licenses in the 37.1, 37.3 and 37.5 GHz mmWave bands. It also acquired 104 licenses in the 24 GHz band that cover 51 partial economic areas. 

The company targets large apartment buildings with its service. Its setup consists of a rooftop base station that broadcasts a signal to multiple building-mounted receivers, allowing a single base station to serve dozens of buildings. Although it uses proprietary equipment it’s based upon modified 802.11ac/ax standards that takes advantage of the Wi-Fi chipset ecosystem.

The company, which is currently being acquired by Verizon, offers service to about 100,000 subscribers in apartment buildings in five markets; Boston, Denver, Los Angeles, New York/New Jersey, and Washington, D.C./Virginia.

Starry offers a variety of rate plans: $30 per month for up to 200 Mbps; $55 per month for up to 500 Mbps; and $75 per month for up to 1 Gbps. 

Ookla’s Speedtest® data shows that Starry has nearly doubled its median download speeds in its markets from 102.74 Mbps in Q1 2022 to 202.25 Mbps in Q2 2025. The company’s upload speed also increased, but not as dramatically from 52.29 Mbps in Q1 2022 to 54.34 Mbps in Q2 2025.  The company saw the biggest increase in speeds from Q1 2024 to Q2 2025, which is likely due to some network upgrades, including the deployment of the 2.0 version of its Comet receiver.  Starry said the upgrades would expand its coverage range as well as provide better spectral efficiency.  

Starry's Median Download, 75th Percentile Download, and Median Upload Speeds
Q1 2021 through Q2 2025
Starry's median download, median upload and 75th percentile speeds over time.

GeoLinks uses local multipoint distribution services (LMDS) spectrum that it acquired from Verizon in 2021 as well as some unlicensed 5 GHz and unlicensed 59-61 GHz spectrum. Those 208 LMDS licenses are in the 29/31 GHz bands and cover several markets. However, GeoLinks currently offers service primarily in California and has a few deployments in Arizona and Nevada, but our Speedtest data samples were all collected from the company’s California deployment where it is currently using the unlicensed 5 GHz spectrum and an older platform.. 

The company recently tested Intracom Telecom’s point-to-multipoint equipment to demonstrate multi-gigabit FWA using its 29/31GHz mmWave spectrum. In addition, it has indicated that it is interested in leasing its spectrum to other enterprises and operators that can then use its spectrum holdings to develop their own FWA services. 

GeoLinks offers a variety of price plans: $25.99 per month for speeds of 10/10 Mbps; $38.99 per month for 25/10 Mbps; $45.99 per month for 30/30 Mbps; and $69.99 per month for speeds of 100/25 Mbps. The company’s web site indicates that the $45.99 per month plan that delivers 30/30 Mbps is the most popular plan with its customers. 

Speedtest data shows Geolinks delivering median download speeds of just 22.74 Mbps in Q2 2025 with 75th percentile download speeds of 56.58 Mbps. Its users experience median upload speeds of 19.82 Mbps in Q2 2025.  

GeoLink's Median Download, 75th Percentile Download, and Median Upload Speeds
Q1 2021 through Q2 2025
GeoLink's median download, median upload and 75th percentile speeds over time.

Etheric Networks

Etheric Networks provides FWA service to the California Bay Area. The company has a fiber ring stretching from San Francisco to Monterey, California that connects its FWA towers and eight data centers. Etheric uses a mix of spectrum including unlicensed 2.4 GHz and 5.8 GHz spectrum. However, in 2024 Etheric partnered with BroadbandOne to leverage BroadbandOne’s 28 GHz mmWave spectrum. The company said this partnership will allow it to enhance its connectivity and serve more rural and agricultural areas. 

The company offers three residential price plans: $79 per month for speeds up to 100 Mbps; $99 per month for speeds up to 250 Mbps and $169 per month for 1 Gbps speeds. 

Speedtest data shows Etheric has nearly doubled its median download speeds from 21.34 Mbps in Q1 2021 to 41.09 Mbps in Q2 2025. Its users in the 75th percentile (those in the upper end of the typical speed range) saw speeds of 65.45 Mbps in Q2 2025.The company’s median upload speeds also increased over time from 13.6 Mbps in Q1 2021 to 29.5 Mbps in Q2 2025. 

Etheric Networks' Median Download, 75th Percentile Download, and Median Upload Speeds
Q1 2021 through Q2 2025
Etheric Networks' median download, median upload and 75th percentile speeds over time.

WISPs make the most of mid-band with CBRS licenses

Many WISPs take advantage of the mid-band CBRS spectrum, which is a 150 MHz shared spectrum in the 3.5 GHz to 3.7 GHz band that allows for flexible use by three different groups that are managed by a Spectrum Access System (SAS). The SAS can dynamically grant access to different users. The band is shared by these three parties: incumbent users such as the U.S. Navy that have priority access to the band; licensed users with Priority Access Licenses (PAL) that have exclusive use of a portion of the band in a specific geographic location; and the General Authorized Access (GAA) group who can access the spectrum but have no protection from interference from the other two groups.  

Several of the WISPs we analyzed deploy their services in the CBRS spectrum and primarily use the GAA portion of the band. Others have acquired CBRS PAL and some use a combination of both. Some WISPS also use unlicensed bands such as 5 GHz. 

Nextlink spent $28.4 million in FCC’s Auction 105 to purchase over 1,100 CBRS PAL licenses covering 491 counties in eleven states including Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Indiana, Wyoming, and Missouri. The company uses that spectrum to deliver its FWA service to its more than 100,000 subscribers (as of August 2025).  NextLink also has deployed fiber to more than 100,000 locations and has 20,000 fiber customers. 

Nextlink secured Connect America Fund II funding and participated in the FCC’s Rural Digital Opportunity Fund so much of its FWA expansion has been driven by those commitments. In August Nextlink said it has completed five of the six states as part of its CAF II funding and is halfway through its RDOF buildout. 

The company offers a variety of FWA plans: The Next50, which offers up to 50 Mbps speeds for $30 per month; the Next100 that offers speeds up to 100 Mbps for $40 per month; The Next300 that offers speeds up to 300 Mbps for $60 per month; and the Next500 that offers speeds up to 500 Mbps for $75 per month. 

Speedtest data shows NextLink has more than tripled its median download speeds from 19.45 Mbps in Q1 2021 to 68.47 Mbps in Q2 2025.  The WISP also increased its median upload speeds significantly from 4.72 Mbps in Q1 2021 to 18.26 Mbps in Q2 2025. NextLink users in the 75th percentile (those in the upper end of the typical speed range) get much higher speeds of 122.88 Mbps in Q2 2025. 

NextLink's Median Download, 75th Percentile Download, and Median Upload Speeds
Q1 2021 through Q2 2025
NextLink's median download, median upload and 75th percentile speeds over time.

Resound Networks

Resound Networks provides FWA service in Texas, New Mexico, Arkansas, Arizona and Oklahoma and uses Tarana Wireless gear in the unlicensed 5 GHz and 6 GHz spectrum bands. It also offers fiber service in some locations and is planning to expand its fiber footprint. Like many WISPs, Resound is focused specifically on rural communities that have historically been overlooked by larger ISPs. In 2022 the company was awarded $303 million through the FCC’s RDOF program to deliver FWA and fiber to 214,000 rural locations. 

Resound offers both residential and enterprise rate plans. Its residential plans start at 75 Mbps for $55 per month and go up to 1 Gbps for $130 per month. 

The company’s customers experienced a steady increase in their download and upload speeds from mid-2023 until Q2 2025 from a median download speed of 38.94 Mbps in Q3 2023 to 99.41 Mbps in Q2 2025.  Its users in the 75th percentile (those in the upper end of the typical speed range) experienced an even greater climb in download speeds from 62.99 Mbps in Q3 2023 to 190.76 Mbps in Q2 2025.  During this time period Resound was expanding its network. 

Resound Network's Median Download, 75th Percentile Download, and Median Upload Speeds
Q1 2021 through Q2 2025
Resound's median download, median upload and 75th percentile speeds over time.

Rise Broadband

Rise Broadband claims to be the country’s largest WISP with around 200,000 customers. It may also be one of the longest living WISPs because it dates back to 2006 when it started as JAB Broadband and its goal was to consolidate many of the country’s smaller WISPs to create one big WISP with a large footprint. 

Today Rise offers FWA service in16 states, mostly in the Midwest. Rise offers service primarily in rural areas and it uses a mix of unlicensed spectrum in the 5 GHz band and in the 3.55 GHz to 3.7 GHz bands (CBRS), but also uses some licensed spectrum in the 2.5 GHz band, to deliver its service. 

Like NextLink, the company is actively deploying fiber in addition to FWA. The company’s strategy is to deploy FWA initially to capture market share and then roll out fiber to the densest FWA coverage areas. 

Rise’s price plans start as low as $30 per month for 50 Mbps and reach up to 400 Mbps for $55 per month. 

Rise users logged median download speeds of 42.58 Mbps in Q2 2025, which is a significant jump from Q1 2021 when users experienced median download speeds of just 16.01 Mbps. Rise’s users  in the 75th percentile (those in the upper end of the typical speed range) were able to achieve download speeds of 65.97 Mbps in Q2 2025.  The company’s median upload speeds also increased from 4.05 Mbps in Q1 2021 to 18.38 Mbps Q2 2025. Rise saw a big jump in median upload speeds between Q2 2022 when users logged median upload speeds of 5.86 Mbps and Q3 2022 when users experienced median upload speeds of 13.68 Mbps. 

Rise Broadband's Median Download, 75th Percentile Download, and Median Upload Speeds
Q1 2021 through Q2 2025
Rise Broadband's median download, median upload and 75th percentile speeds over time.

Wisper Internet

Wisper Internet offers FWA in six midwestern states including Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Indiana. The company uses unlicensed spectrum in the 5 GHz, and a mix of unlicensed and licensed spectrum in the 2.5 GHz and 3.65 GHz bands.  Like NextLink and Rise, the company also has deployed fiber in a few select areas. 

Wisper offers a variety of rate plans including 25 Mbps for $70 per month; 50 Mbps for $75 per month; 100 Mbps for $80 per month; 200 Mbps for $110 per month and 400 Mbps for $140 per month. 

Similar to the other WISPs, Wisper’s median download speeds increased over time but it increased dramatically from Q3 2023 to Q2 2025 when its median download speeds increased from 33.74 Mbps to 52.90 Mbps. Likewise, the download speeds for users in the 75th percentile also increased, climbing from 55.12 Mbps in Q3 2023 to 107.90 Mbps in Q2 2025. This jump in speeds was likely due to  Wisper’s deployment of additional FWA gear from Tarana Wireless on 180 more towers in its footprint. 

Wisper Internet's Median Download, 75th Percentile Download, and Median Upload Speeds
Q1 2021 through Q2 2025
Wisper Internet's median download, median upload and 75th percentile speeds over time.

Unwired

Unwired Broadband provides FWA coverage in rural and underserved areas in central and northern California. The company said it has a network of more than 200 towers and a coverage area of about 17,000 square miles. Besides FWA, Unwired also provides some fiber service but It’s early in its deployment process. 

Unwired uses a combination of licensed and unlicensed spectrum to deliver its FWA service, including the licensed 2.5 GHz band and the unlicensed 6 GHz band. 

The company offers both business and residential FWA service and its pricing starts at $59.99 per month for 100 Mbps. 

Unwired users experienced increases in download and upload speeds over time but between Q3 2024 and Q4 2024 the jump was more dramatic. Median download speeds jumped from 27.22 Mbps in Q3 to 44.25 Mbps in Q4. Similarly median upload speeds increased from 9.7 Mbps in Q3 2024 to 15.9 Mbps in Q4. 

Unwired's Median Download, 75th Percentile Download, and Median Upload Speeds
Q1 2021 through Q2 2025
Unwired's median download, median upload and 75th percentile speeds over time.

WISPs’ performance is improving but competitive threats lurk 

Although the WISPs we studied are improving their networks and delivering better performance for their customers, the broadband market is rapidly changing. In the past many WISPs, particularly those in rural areas, faced little or no competition. But that’s no longer the case. 

As LEO satellite constellations such as Starlink become more powerful and more prevalent (Amazon’s Kuiper now has 153 satellites in orbit and is expected to launch late this year), WISPs will face growing competition from these companies. 

A recent Ookla report on Starlink found that Starlink’s network saw its median download speeds nearly double from 53.95 Mbps in Q3 2022 to 104.71 Mbps in Q1 2025, making its median download speeds on par or better than seven of the eight WISPs we reviewed (Starry was the only exception). With Starlink residential price plans starting around $80 per month, the company’s introductory price plan is a bit more expensive than some introductory price plans from WISPs but Starlink is aggressively promoting its services and offering large discounts on its equipment to entice new customers. 

To continue to play in the broadband space, WISPs need to try to secure more spectrum–licensed or unlicensed— to avoid network congestion and interference and also  invest in network upgrades so their services remain competitive. 

 To find out more about Speedtest Intelligence® data and insights, visit our website.  

Ookla retains ownership of this article including all of the intellectual property rights, data, content graphs and analysis. This article may not be quoted, reproduced, distributed or published for any commercial purpose without prior consent. Members of the press and others using the findings in this article for non-commercial purposes are welcome to publicly share and link to report information with attribution to Ookla.

Network Evolution
Spectrum
Starlink
Etheric
GeoLink
NextLink
Resound Networks
Rise Broadband
Starry
Unwired
Wisper
WISPs

About the author

Sue Marek

Sue Marek is Ookla’s editorial director and part of the company’s analyst team. She oversees the company’s thought leadership and editorial content. Sue is a journalist with more than 30 years of experience covering the telecom industry and her work has appeared in Fierce Network, Light Reading, and SDxCentral. She is a frequent speaker at industry events and has moderated panels at Mobile World Las Vegas, Connect(x), the Consumer Electronics Show, the Competitive Carriers’ Show and 5G North America. Sue has a B.S. in journalism from the University of Colorado.

More Articles

Ookla Research™ Articles
| October 27, 2025

U.S. Broadband Speeds on the Uptick, Digital Divide Narrows

Regulatory

A new Ookla report found that the digital divide has narrowed in 33 states during the first half of 2025.

Key Takeaways

  • The number of states with 60% or more of Speedtest users experiencing the FCC’s minimum standard for fixed broadband speeds of 100 Mbps downstream and 20 Mbps upstream jumped from 22 states and the District of Columbia in the 2H of 2024 to 38 states and the District of Columbia in 1H of 2025.
  • The digital divide between urban and rural users improved in the first half of 2025 with 33 states seeing the gap between the percentage of fixed urban users and fixed rural users that receive the minimum required FCC broadband speeds lessen during that time while 17 states saw that gap grow in the first half of 2025 compared to the second half of 2024. Ookla uses the Census Bureau’s urban-rural classification to determine which users are urban vs. rural. 
  • The digital divide doesn’t exist for many Starlink users. In 26 out of the 50 states and the District of Columbia, rural users get better broadband speeds than their urban counterparts. This is likely due to Starlink’s ability to overcome the geographic and cost barriers that make delivering fixed rural broadband so difficult. 

U.S. broadband speeds are on the uptick, and more users are getting better performance than ever from their broadband connectivity. However, there are still some states (particularly those with lower population density and vast terrain) that are struggling to deliver broadband services to their residents. 

Ookla Speedtest Intelligence® data found that the number of states that are able to deliver fixed broadband services (fiber, cable and DSL) to the minimum standard of broadband speeds (100 Mbps download and 20 Mbps upload) to 60% or more of Speedtest users in their state grew dramatically from 22 states and the District of Columbia in the second half of 2024 to 38 states and the District of Columbia in the first half of 2025. 

In addition, there are now five states—Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey, North Dakota and Rhode Island —delivering speeds of 100/20 Mbps to more than 70% of their users.

Not only are broadband speeds improving, Speedtest data from the first half of 2025 also revealed that 33 states narrowed the gap between how many rural users vs. urban users were able to achieve the FCC’s minimum broadband speeds of 100/20 Mbps.

This is a fairly dramatic turnaround from the second half of 2024 when Speedtest data showed that 32 states had increased their digital divide instead of decreasing it. Ookla uses the Census Bureau’s urban-rural classification to determine which users are urban vs. rural. 

South Dakota No. 1 in Starlink-delivered broadband speeds

As a result of NTIA’s June decision to allow other technologies such as LEO satellites to compete for BEAD funding, at least 32 states and territories have decided to include LEO satellite systems in their final proposals (not all final BEAD proposals have been submitted as some states received extensions). While many states are still prioritizing fiber, LEO services such as SpaceX’s Starlink and Amazon’s Kuiper are appearing in many of the revised proposals. 

We looked at Speedtest data on SpaceX’s Starlink service in every state and the District of Columbia to see what percentage of Starlink users received the FCC’s minimum standard for broadband of 100/20 Mbps. South Dakota is the No. 1 state with 37.1% of Starlink users getting access to 100/20 Mbps speeds followed by Maine with 35.3% of users and Wyoming with 34.5% of users.

Download the full report

To find your state’s standing and how it compares to the rest of the country in broadband connectivity, download this free report here.

Ookla retains ownership of this article including all of the intellectual property rights, data, content graphs and analysis. This article may not be quoted, reproduced, distributed or published for any commercial purpose without prior consent. Members of the press and others using the findings in this article for non-commercial purposes are welcome to publicly share and link to report information with attribution to Ookla.

Regulatory
Starlink
broadband
digital divide

About the author

Sue Marek

Sue Marek is Ookla’s editorial director and part of the company’s analyst team. She oversees the company’s thought leadership and editorial content. Sue is a journalist with more than 30 years of experience covering the telecom industry and her work has appeared in Fierce Network, Light Reading, and SDxCentral. She is a frequent speaker at industry events and has moderated panels at Mobile World Las Vegas, Connect(x), the Consumer Electronics Show, the Competitive Carriers’ Show and 5G North America. Sue has a B.S. in journalism from the University of Colorado.

More Articles

Ookla Research™ Articles
| October 10, 2025

Verizon's Starry Night

FWA

The operator’s purchase of Starry will give it an additional 100k FWA subscribers and its high-capacity mmWave technology.

Verizon is adding more muscle to its fixed wireless access (FWA) game with the purchase of fixed wireless ISP Starry, which currently delivers broadband services to about 100,000 subscribers in multi-dwelling units (MDUs) in five markets: Boston, Denver, Los Angeles, New York/New Jersey, and Washington, D.C./Virginia. Verizon didn’t disclose how much it will pay for Starry but said the deal will close in the first quarter of 2026.

Key Takeaways: 

  • Verizon said it plans to integrate Starry’s mmWave technology with its own mmWave spectrum assets and leverage its fiber footprint for backhaul so it can deliver broadband to more MDU environments. 
  • Ookla’s Speedtest® data shows that Starry has nearly doubled its median download speeds in its markets from 102.74 Mbps in Q1 2022 to 202.25 Mbps in Q2 2025. 
  • Starry’s median download speeds of 202.25 Mbps in Q2 2025 are higher than Verizon’s FWA median download speeds of 149.21 Mbps in Q2 2025. Verizon’s FWA subscribers currently are primarily a mix of consumer and enterprise customers.
  • Starry users in New Jersey (which is part of the company’s New York metro market area) get the highest median download speeds of 251.18 Mbps.  

Starry’s Tumultuous History

Like a lot of wireless upstarts, Starry had aspirations to become a major broadband provider when it launched as a fixed wireless ISP in 2016. The company uses a proprietary near-line-of-sight technology with base stations that cover a radius of about 1.5 kilometers and its system operates on shared spectrum licenses in the 37.1, 37.3 and 37.5 GHz mmWave bands. It also acquired 104 licenses in the 24 GHz band that cover 51 partial economic areas. 

Industry analyst Roger Entner, founder of Recon Analytics, recently wrote in this Light Reading post, that the main value Verizon is getting from this acquisition is in Starry’s “sophisticated technology stack” that uses a rooftop base station to broadcast a signal to multiple building-mounted receivers, allowing a single base station to serve dozens of buildings. In addition, Entner noted that Starry’s technology is also cost-efficient, built upon modified 802.11ac/ax standards that takes advantage of the Wi-Fi chipset ecosystem.

Starry’s short history is quite colorful. The company briefly went public through a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) in March 2022 but ended up filing for bankruptcy less than a year later. It re-emerged in August 2023 as a privately held company. 

During its brief time as a public company in 2022 it said that it had around 90,000 customers. In addition, it indicated that its combined spectrum licenses made it possible for the company to cover more than 40 million homes with its technology.

Despite its aspirations, Starry was never able to scale its services beyond those initial five markets because of its limited resources. Starry currently offers three tiered broadband plans to customers — A 200 Mbps plan for $30 per month, a 500 Mbps plan for $55 per month and a 1 Gbps plan for $75 per month. Verizon also offers three tiered broadband plans for its FWA service — a 300 Mbps plan for $50 per month, a 500 Mbps plan for $60 per month, and a 1 Gbps plan for $75 per month. 

Based upon Ookla’s Speedtest data, Starry’s median download speeds have been on the uptick, increasing from 102.74 Mbps in Q1 2022 to 202.25 Mbps in Q2 2025. This number is higher than Verizon’s FWA median download speeds. In a previous Ookla report on fixed wireless access we measured Verizon’s median download speeds rising 12% from 132.55 Mbps in Q4 2023 to 150.47 Mbps in Q4 2024. A recent check on Verizon’s FWA speeds show the company’s download speeds haven’t changed much with a median download speed of 149.21 Mbps in Q2 2025. 

Starry's Median Download and 75th Percentile Download Speeds
Q1 2022 through Q2 2025
Starry's median download and 75th percentile speeds over time.

Starry says on its web site that its most popular plan is the $55 per month plan, which offers speeds up to 500 Mbps. When looking at the performance of users in the 75th percentile, we can see that the users who are most likely on the higher tiers saw their speeds increase over time as well. 

Verizon’s MDU Plans Just Got a Little Boost

Verizon was already planning to target the MDU market with FWA prior to its acquisition of Starry. The company said in its third quarter 2024 earnings call with investors that it was going to target MDUs with a new solution that would deliver up to 1 Gbps speeds and use mmWave spectrum. This new solution was expected to debut commercially this year.

Joe Russo, Verizon’s EVP and president of global networks and technology, said when announcing Verizon’s intent to acquire Starry that this deal will allow the company to “accelerate” its FWA capabilities. He also praised the company’s technology, noting that the architecture is less expensive to build and quicker to deploy and will allow Verizon to leverage its existing fiber and mmWave assets. 

Speedtest data, which compiled Starry data at the state level in markets where the company is doing business, showed that Starry users in New Jersey, which is part of Starry’s New York metropolitan market, are getting the highest median download speeds of 251.08 Mbps compared to those in Massachusetts, which are getting median download speeds of 184.96 Mbps.

Starry Per-Market Median Download Speeds
Q1 2025
Median download speed for each Starry market in Q1 2025.

The Starry acquisition will add another 100,000 subscribers to Verizon’s FWA subscriber base. However, Verizon didn’t increase its existing FWA subscriber goals beyond its existing goal of 8 million to 9 million by 2028, instead it said it will allow it to “accelerate” its efforts to reach that goal. 

Verizon’s planned purchase of Starry indicates the company is still committed to pursuing the MDU space and using its mmWave spectrum. It will be interesting to see if the operator can overcome some of the challenges Starry experienced when it comes to cost-effectively expanding to more markets.  

Ookla retains ownership of this article including all of the intellectual property rights, data, content graphs and analysis. This article may not be quoted, reproduced, distributed or published for any commercial purpose without prior consent. Members of the press and others using the findings in this article for non-commercial purposes are welcome to publicly share and link to report information with attribution to Ookla.

FWA
Verizon

About the author

Sue Marek

Sue Marek is Ookla’s editorial director and part of the company’s analyst team. She oversees the company’s thought leadership and editorial content. Sue is a journalist with more than 30 years of experience covering the telecom industry and her work has appeared in Fierce Network, Light Reading, and SDxCentral. She is a frequent speaker at industry events and has moderated panels at Mobile World Las Vegas, Connect(x), the Consumer Electronics Show, the Competitive Carriers’ Show and 5G North America. Sue has a B.S. in journalism from the University of Colorado.

More Articles

Ookla Research™ Articles
| September 10, 2025

Mobile Coverage Still Spotty for Some Visitors at U.S. National Parks 

U.S. National Parks

T-Mobile leads Verizon and AT&T in having the highest median upload and download speeds in six of the 10 most popular U.S. National Parks. 

A familiar item on many people’s bucket lists is the desire to visit all 63 U.S. National Parks. Thanks to social media sharing of photos and videos taken at popular national parks and the growing popularity of outdoor recreation, the number of visits to the U.S. National Parks grew to more than 94.3 million in 2024, up from 67.9 million in 2020, according to the National Park Service. 

The Increase in US National Park Visitors (2020-2024)
National Park Service data | YE 2024
Tracking the increase in the number of National Park visitors in the US from 2020-2024.

But sharing photos and videos on social media from most of these national parks can only be accomplished with sufficient mobile connectivity, something that is still lacking at some U.S. National Parks. 

Using Ookla’s Speedtest® Intelligence data, we analyzed mobile connectivity at 42 of the most frequently visited U.S. National Parks and found that in 10 of the most popular parks, the median download and median upload speeds of the three big national providers — AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon — varied dramatically.  

In addition, we found that in some of these popular parks, low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellite provider Starlink delivered median download  and upload speeds that were equal to, or better, than those of the big three providers. 

Key Takeaways: 

  • Starlink users experienced faster median download speeds than those from any of the top mobile providers in four of the most visited US national parks during the first seven months of 2025. 
  • T-Mobile had faster median download speeds than AT&T and Verizon in six of the 10 most popular US national parks for the first seven months of 2025. The operator also had higher median upload speeds than its mobile operator peers in those same six parks during the same time period. 
  • Sequoia, Mount Rainier, and Grand Teton National Parks had the fastest median download speeds among the 42 major national parks we monitored in the first seven months of 2025. Sequoia was No. 1 with the highest median download speed of 163.3 Mbps.
  • Death Valley, Kings Canyon, and Redwood National Parks had the slowest median download speeds of all the 42 national parks in the first seven months of 2025. Death Valley had the slowest median download speed at just 7.56 Mbps. 

Performance at the Most Popular National Parks

Although there are 63 U.S. national parks, not all of them are equal in popularity. Some parks such as the Grand Canyon have iconic landscapes that appeal to tourists while others, such as the North Cascades National Park in Washington, attract few visitors because of their limited accessibility and harsh weather conditions. 

We looked at 10 of the most frequently visited U.S. national parks (by annual visitors) to see how well these parks delivered on key performance metrics such as median download and median upload speeds. 

We then analyzed how the three major mobile carriers performed across these parks. When looking specifically at median download performance for each of the top three mobile providers in 10 of the most popular US national parks, T-Mobile had the fastest median download speeds in six of those 10 parks for the first seven months of 2025. The operator also had the highest median upload speeds in those same six parks during the same time period. 

T-Mobile’s median download speeds were noticeably higher than its peers AT&T and Verizon in Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado and in Great Smoky National Park, which straddles the states of North Carolina and Tennessee.

Performance of the Top Three Mobile Providers and Starlink in the 10 Most Popular U.S. National Parks
Speedtest® | July 2025

Starlink Stands Out in Upload Speeds 

U.S. national parks attract many campers who travel with portable Starlink connectivity kits that allow them to stay connected in remote areas where mobile connectivity is limited or unavailable. 

According to Speedtest data, Starlink outperformed the big three mobile operators in median upload speeds in eight of the 10 most visited parks. Yosemite National Park and Zion National Park were the only two parks where mobile operators delivered faster upload speeds than Starlink. 

Starlink users also experienced better median download speeds than users on the big three national mobile providers in four parks:Joshua Tree National Park, Acadia National Park, Grand Canyon National Park, and Olympic National Park.  

Sequoia and Mount Rainier: The Speediest National Parks 

As mentioned above, national parks located near population centers tend to have a big advantage when it comes to connectivity. When we looked at the median download speeds for all mobile providers combined for all major U.S. national parks, Sequoia National Park, which is located just 85 miles from Fresno, California, was the leader with a median download speed of 163.3 Mbps followed by Mount Rainier National Park, which is just 65 miles from Tacoma, Washington, with a median download speed of 156.22 Mbps. 

Mt. Rainier’s leading performance comes as no surprise; the park also ranked high in our May 2021 report and has shown steadily improving download speeds over the past four years. Specifically, median download speeds measured at Mount Rainier National Park have more than doubled from 72.89 Mbps in Q1 2021 to 156.22 Mbps in the first seven months of 2025. 

Another leading park that has experienced a boost in download speeds is Cuyahoga Valley National Park in Ohio. Cuyahoga Valley’s median download speeds increased from 55.30 Mbps in Q1 2021 to 147.16 Mbps July 2025. 

The Five National Parks with the Fastest Median Download Speeds
Speedtest | July 2025


Mount Rainier also dominated in median upload speeds, posting 21.04 Mbps, which was more than double that of the  No. 2 park Hawaii Volcanoes, which clocked in with a median upload speed of 10.12 Mbps. 

The Five US National Parks with the Fastest Median Upload Performance
Speedtest | July 2025

Death Valley, Kings Canyon Struggle with Slow Speeds

Death Valley National Park in California is more than 120 miles from Las Vegas, which is the closest major city. The park is the largest national park in the contiguous U.S. and is known for its vastness and its limited services, including cell phone reception. Speedtest data shows Death Valley getting a median download speed of just 7.56 Mbps in the first seven months of July. 

Surprisingly, Kings Canyon National Park, which is adjacent to Sequoia National Park, suffers from slow median download speeds of just 8.33 Mbps. This is dramatically different from its close neighbor, Sequoia, with its median download speed of 163.3 Mbps in 2025. 

However, the terrain of Kings Canyon is likely the reason for its dramatically slower download speeds than its neighboring park, Sequoia. Kings Canyon is known for its deep canyons and steep rugged mountains, making it difficult for cell reception. 

The Five National Parks with the Slowest Median Download Speeds
Speedtest | July 2025

The Five National Parks with the Slowest Median Upload Performance
Speedtest | July 2025

Satellite Service May be the Answer 

Although visiting national parks remains a popular activity for hikers, campers, and nature lovers, mobile connectivity throughout national parks all across the country will likely remain challenging in many areas. 

The high cost of building cell towers in remote areas coupled with the landscapes of most of the park–mountains and dense forests–make many areas of the parks unconducive to mobile signals. 

That’s why it’s not surprising that Speedtest is seeing more evidence of Starlink being used as a connectivity option. We expect to see Starlink and other emerging LEO services (such as Amazon’s Kuiper) being used for connectivity in national parks in the future. 

 To find out more about Speedtest Intelligence® data and insights, visit our website.  

Ookla retains ownership of this article including all of the intellectual property rights, data, content graphs and analysis. This article may not be quoted, reproduced, distributed or published for any commercial purpose without prior consent. Members of the press and others using the findings in this article for non-commercial purposes are welcome to publicly share and link to report information with attribution to Ookla.

U.S. National Parks

About the author

Sue Marek

Sue Marek is Ookla’s editorial director and part of the company’s analyst team. She oversees the company’s thought leadership and editorial content. Sue is a journalist with more than 30 years of experience covering the telecom industry and her work has appeared in Fierce Network, Light Reading, and SDxCentral. She is a frequent speaker at industry events and has moderated panels at Mobile World Las Vegas, Connect(x), the Consumer Electronics Show, the Competitive Carriers’ Show and 5G North America. Sue has a B.S. in journalism from the University of Colorado.

More Articles

Ookla Research™ Articles
| August 13, 2025

Many U.S. Tribal Nations Still Lack Access to Adequate Fixed and Mobile Connectivity

Ookla for Good

While some Tribal Nations have made great progress toward improving their fixed and mobile broadband speeds, others are falling further behind.

Key Takeaways: 

  • There are stark contrasts in fixed connectivity among the 110 Tribal Nations we analyzed. For example, 36% of them have median fixed download speeds below 100 Mbps, which is the minimum download speed for broadband connectivity as defined by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). However, nineteen Tribal communities have median fixed download speeds greater than 300 Mbps. Similar to fixed, 47 Tribal Nations had median 5G mobile download speeds of less than 100 Mbps and 12 communities have median mobile download speeds of 300 Mbps or greater. 
  • Funding and partnerships are critical to successful broadband deployments in Tribal Nations. The Zuni Nation, which shares geography with New Mexico, has exceptionally high median fixed download speeds of 458.1 Mbps. Its partnership with the Continental Divide Electric Cooperative (CDEC) plays a key role in this community’s high broadband speeds. 
  • Three Tribal Nations with the slowest median mobile download speeds share geographies with the state of Alaska and their remote locations make them prone to poor connectivity. 
  • The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community recorded surprisingly high median 5G mobile download speeds of 468.42 Mbps in Q1 2025, which is more than 60% faster than the median 5G mobile download speeds of Minnesota, which shares geography with the Tribal Nation. 

U.S. Tribal Nations experience some of the biggest gaps when it comes to access to fast and reliable fixed and mobile connectivity. While progress has been made in some Tribal Nations, the connectivity gap for many remains quite large. 

According to the FCC’s 2024 data, approximately 23% of residents of Tribal Nations lack access to high-speed internet service, defined as 100 Mbps download speed and 20 Mbps upload speed (100/20 Mbps). 

Using Ookla® Speedtest® data, we analyzed the fixed and mobile broadband performance of 110 Tribal Nations in the U.S. from Q1 2021 to Q1 2025 and compared them with the connectivity speeds of the states that share geography with them. 

This isn’t the first time Ookla has looked at the status of connectivity in Tribal Lands. Ookla for Good™, which has a mission to help bring fast and reliable internet access to every person, regardless of location or socioeconomic status, examined the disparity in connectivity among Tribal Nations in the United States in 2021 and this report serves as a follow up to that report.

The Gaps in Fixed Broadband Speeds Vary Greatly 

The results are quite surprising. Of the 110 Tribal Nations we analyzed, 74.5% had median download speeds below the median download speeds of the states where they share geographies. However, there were 19 Tribal Nations that had median download speeds greater than 300 Mbps and 18 of those communities have median download speeds faster than the state where they share geographies.

In addition, 36.4% of them have median download speeds below 100 Mbps, which is the minimum download speed that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) uses to define broadband connectivity. 

The Zuni Tribe, which shares geography with New Mexico, stands apart from the rest with its exceptionally high median download and upload speeds. Members of the Zuni Tribe experienced median fixed download speeds of 458.1 Mbps as of Q1 2025, which is more than double the median download speed of 208.59 Mbps that New Mexico users experienced in Q1 2025. In addition, Zuni Tribe members log fixed median upload speeds of 248.21 Mbps in Q1 2025, which are nearly 10x the 25.35 Mbps median upload speed that New Mexico users experienced in the same time period.

U.S. Tribal Nations with the Fastest Fixed Download Speeds
Comparing the median download speed of tribal nations with the median download speed of the state where they share geography | Q1 2025
U.S. tribal nations with the highest fixed median download speeds and how that compares to the median download speed of the state where they share geography as of Q1 2025.

There are other examples as well. Two Tribes that share geography with North Carolina —the Meherrin Tribe and the Lumbee Tribe— also surpassed North Carolina in median download speeds but to a lesser extent than the Zuni Tribe.

The Meherrin Tribe experienced median download speeds of 384.32 Mbps in Q1 2025 compared to North Carolina broadband users that experienced median download speeds of 312.36 Mbps in the same quarter. Likewise, the Lumbee Tribe clocked a median download speed of 374.67 Mbps in Q1 2025, which is about 20% higher than North Carolina.

Upload speeds, however, paint a different picture for the Meherrin Tribe and the Lumbee Tribe. The Meherrin Tribe experienced median upload speeds of 32.95 Mbps and the Lumbee Tribe experienced median upload speeds of 32.98 Mbps in Q1 2025. These speeds are slightly lower than the median upload speeds of 35.07 Mbps experienced by North Carolina users in the same time period. 

U.S. Tribal Nations with the Fastest Fixed Upload Speeds
Comparing the median upload speed of tribal nations with the median upload speed of the state where they share geography | Q1 2025
U.S. Tribal nations with the highest fixed median upload speeds and how that compares to the state median upload speed where they share geography as of Q1 2025.


Some Tribal Nations Rely on Painfully Slow Internet Speeds


In contrast to the Zuni Nation, users in the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation, which inhabits the same region as Connecticut, experience fixed median download speeds of just 6.15 Mbps in Q1 2025, which likely means they rely on DSL or satellite for their internet connectivity. Mashantucket Pequot Tribe’s median download speeds were 98.2% lower than the 332.92 Mbps median download speed that users in Connecticut experienced in Q1 2025. In addition, Mashantucket Pequot Tribe members clocked a median upload speed of just 6.59 Mbps, which is 91.4% lower than the 76.72 Mbps median upload speed that Connecticut users experienced in Q1 2025. 

The Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation was awarded $493,008 in October 2022 through the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program (TBCP) to improve its broadband connectivity. The grant is intended to assist 163 tribal households with broadband connectivity, which is equal to $3,024 per household. The project was initially supposed to be completed in 2023, however, that deadline was recently extended to April 2026 so it’s likely we will see an increase in the tribal nation’s median broadband speeds after that date. Although it’s unclear why this project’s deadline was extended, many tribal entities have had their deadlines extended to give them more time to get access to the technical expertise needed for this type of project. 

Similar to the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation, the Kotzebue Tribe also suffers from poor fixed broadband speeds. The Kotzebue Tribe is located on the Baldwin Peninsula in Kotzebue Sound, about 33 miles north of the Arctic Circle. This area is a transportation hub and is often referred to as the “Gateway to the Arctic.” The Kotzebue Tribe shares geography with Alaska where residents get an average median download speed of 167.34 Mbps, which is 91.7% higher than the Kotzebue Tribe’s median download speed of 13.9 Mbps. 

A similar trend exists in median upload speeds. Alaska residents experience a median fixed upload speed of 23.83 Mbps, which is 81.1% higher than the 4.50 Mbps in median upload speeds experienced by Kotzebue Tribe members. 

U.S. Tribal Nations with the Slowest Fixed Download Speeds
Comparing the median fixed download speed of tribal lands with the median fixed download speed of the state where they share geography. | Q1 2025
U.S. Tribal lands with the slowest fixed median download speeds and how that compares to the overall state's median fixed download speed.


U.S. Tribal Nations with the Slowest Fixed Upload Speeds
Comparing the median fixed upload speed of tribal lands with the median fixed upload speed of the state where they share geography | Q1 2025
U.S. Tribal lands with the slowest fixed median upload speeds and how that compares to the median fixed upload speed of the state where they share geography.

The Kotzebue Tribe’s remote location contributes to its inability to get high-speed service. This area is typically reliant upon subsea fiber optic cable for connectivity but these are often damaged resulting in interruptions to service. In addition, deploying fiber optic cables to remote areas such as this is extremely challenging and expensive. 

Funding, Tribal Support Key to Delivering Strong Connectivity

Funding and tribal support play a very big role in the state of broadband connectivity in Tribal Nations. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) established the TBCP in 2021. The TBCP is a $3 billion grant program established through two key pieces of legislation: the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, which provided an initial $980 million, and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), which added another $2 billion in funding. 

As of 2024, the TBCP had awarded $1.8 billion in funding to 226 Tribal entities. 

The TBCP is complemented by the $42.45 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program, which requires collaboration between states and Tribal governments on broadband. Other agencies, such as the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the FCC also offer rural development grants and affordable broadband programs that help Tribal Nations get better access to broadband. 

For example, Zuni Tribe’s superior fixed broadband speed is due to its partnership with the Continental Divide Electric Cooperative’s (CDEC). The CDEC in March 2022 received a $4.4 million grant from the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission to deploy high-speed gigabit fiber to approximately 2,200 households and businesses, which is equal to about $2,000 per location, in the Zuni Nation. The goal was to extend broadband to every family on the reservation by the summer of 2023. 

The chart below shows the dramatic uptick in median download speeds for the Zuni Nation between Q3 2023 and Q4 2023 when households and businesses gained access to gigabit fiber. 

The Zuni Tribe's Fixed Download Speed Evolution
Speedtest | Q3 2022 through Q1 2025
A comparison of the Zuni Tribe's Median Download Speeds with the state of New Mexico.

Not surprising, Tribal Nations that are able to secure broadband funding from programs such as the TBCP are likely to have the best median download and upload speeds. Similar to Zuni, the Lumbee Tribal Nation of North Carolina received a $19 million grant in 2021 to assist with hardships created by the Covid-19 pandemic, including assistance with Internet access for distance learning. 

Mobile Connectivity on Tribal Lands Differs Greatly Too

Similar to fixed broadband connectivity, mobile service performance in Tribal communities also varies dramatically. When looking specifically at 5G connectivity 19% of Tribal communities had median mobile download speeds that outpaced the 5G median mobile download speeds of the states where they share geographies. 

For example, the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community experienced median 5G mobile download speeds of 468.42 Mbps in Q1 2025, which is 64.3% faster than the median 5G mobile download speeds of 285.05 Mbps for Q1 2025 for the state of Minnesota, which shares geography with the Shakopee Mdewakanton Tribal Nation. 

Shakopee Mdewakanton also was a top performer in median 5G mobile upload speeds of 36.92 Mbps in Q1 2025, which is more than double Minnesota’s 5G median mobile upload speeds of 14.87 Mbps. 

These fast 5G speeds are likely a result of the Shakopee Mdewakanton Tribal Nation’s many gaming and resort ventures, including the Mystic Lake Casino Hotel and the Little Six Casino, which are large employers and generate a lot of revenue for the Tribal Nation, which drive investments in 5G infrastructure. 

The Puyallup Tribal Nation, which is one of the more urban tribal lands, located near Tacoma, Washington, also experienced strong median 5G mobile download speeds in Q1 2025 of 369.33 Mbps, which is 58.8% greater than the median 5G mobile download speeds of the state of Washington, which clocked in at 232.63 Mbps in Q1 2025. The Tribal Nation also surpassed the state of Washington in median 5G mobile upload speeds of 17.57 Mbps in Q1 2025 compared to Washington’s median 5G mobile upload speeds of 12.8 Mbps.

U.S. Tribal Nations with the Fastest 5G Mobile Download Speeds
Comparing the median mobile download speed of tribal nations with the median mobile download speed of the state where they share geography | Q1 2025
U.S. Tribal nations with the fastest mobile median download speeds and how that compares to the median mobile download speed of the states where they share geography.

U.S. Tribal Nations with the Fastest 5G Mobile Upload Speeds
Comparing the median mobile upload speed of tribal nations with the median mobile upload speed of the state where they share geography | Q1 2025
U.S. Tribal lands with the fastest mobile median upload speeds and how that compares to the median mobile upload speed of the state where they share geography.

Tribal Nations Near Alaska Struggle with Mobile Connectivity

Three Tribal Nations with the slowest median mobile download speeds and the two Tribal Nations with the slowest median mobile upload speeds are tribal lands that share geographies with the state of Alaska. Barrow (also known as Iñupiat people of Utqiaġvik), Bethel and Wassamasaw are the top three in slowest median mobile upload speeds, which includes all cellular technologies including 5G, 4G and 2G combined. These three Tribal Nations logged painfully slow mobile upload speeds in the single digits compared to Alaska, which has a median mobile upload speed of 8.35 Mbps. 

Utqiaġvik, also known as Barrow, is the northernmost community in the United States and is only reachable by airplane. The Bethel Tribal Nation is not as remote as Barrow but is 400 miles northwest of Anchorage, Alaska. The extreme remote location of these Tribal Communities make their access to both mobile and fixed broadband services particularly challenging. 

U.S. Tribal Nations with the Slowest Mobile Download Speeds
Comparing the median mobile download speed of tribal nations with the median mobile download speed of the state where they share geography | Q1 2025
U.S. Tribal lands with the slowest mobile median upload speeds and how that compares to the median mobile upload speed of the state where they share geography

U.S. Tribal Nations with the Slowest Mobile Upload Speeds
Comparing the median mobile upload speed of tribal nations with the median mobile upload speed of the state where they share geography | Q1 2025
U.S. Tribal lands with the slowest mobile median upload speeds and how that compares to the median mobile upload speed of the states where they share geography.

Funding, Remote Locations Create Obstacles for Tribal Nations

There are many reasons for the connectivity gap we see between Tribal Nations and the states where they share geographies. Some Tribal Nations are located in remote areas with difficult terrain making it costly and challenging to deploy telecom infrastructure. In addition, the low population density on tribal lands discourages private service providers from investing in infrastructure. 

Even though there are federal funding programs like the TBCP available to Tribal Nations, many Tribes lack the resources to navigate those programs because each has its own eligibility requirements, application processes, and reporting requirements. 

Infrastructure Ownership Differs in Tribal Lands

Telecom infrastructure ownership is handled differently in Tribal Nations. In some instances, the Tribe owns and operates the telecom infrastructure giving them more control over the services and a revenue stream. However, this requires an upfront investment in deploying the infrastructure and running the network. One example of this is Yurok Telecommunications, which is 100% tribal-owned and is in the process of deploying fiber to 2,000 homes. 

In other cases, such as the Zuni Tribe, a partnership is formed between the Tribal Nation and a private company, or as in the Zuni example with a utility company, to help the tribe manage the operations and deliver the services. 

Mobile services also are delivered on Tribal lands in a variety of ways. Major cellular operators such as Verizon, T-Mobile and AT&T lease land from Tribal Nations for their cell towers and related infrastructure and then offer services (often discounted through programs such as Lifeline, which when offered to residents of Tribal Nations includes an additional discount) to the community. This type of partnership allows Tribal Nations to generate revenue through land leases and provides long-term steady income. 

Spectrum ownership is another potential revenue stream for Tribal Nations. The FCC in 2020 opened a Rural Tribal Priority Window allowing Tribal Nations in rural areas to directly obtain unassigned 2.5 GHz spectrum licenses before that spectrum was offered for auction. This move was intended to empower the Tribal Nations to provide their own wireless services.

Many Tribal governments are interested in having more ownership over telecom networks and are exploring different approaches, ranging from full ownership of infrastructure to partnerships with private entities such as ISPs or even creating a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) model. 

Data For Further Analysis Available Through Ookla for Good

Tribal Nations that are lacking in broadband and mobile connectivity may want to take a close look at some of their peers that are flourishing such as the Zuni Tribe and the Shakopee Tribe. 

Ookla for Good™ offers our full Tribal data set to anyone that would like to do further analyses. This is just one example of how our work with academic, humanitarian, and community-focused partners extends beyond improving internet speeds. We aim to leave a lasting impact on the communities we support worldwide. To access the Ookla for Good full dataset:

Download.CSV

 To find out more about Speedtest Intelligence® data and insights, please contact us here.

Ookla retains ownership of this article including all of the intellectual property rights, data, content graphs and analysis. This article may not be quoted, reproduced, distributed or published for any commercial purpose without prior consent. Members of the press and others using the findings in this article for non-commercial purposes are welcome to publicly share and link to report information with attribution to Ookla.

Ookla for Good

About the author

Sue Marek

Sue Marek is Ookla’s editorial director and part of the company’s analyst team. She oversees the company’s thought leadership and editorial content. Sue is a journalist with more than 30 years of experience covering the telecom industry and her work has appeared in Fierce Network, Light Reading, and SDxCentral. She is a frequent speaker at industry events and has moderated panels at Mobile World Las Vegas, Connect(x), the Consumer Electronics Show, the Competitive Carriers’ Show and 5G North America. Sue has a B.S. in journalism from the University of Colorado.

More Articles

Ookla Research™ Articles
| July 15, 2025

Latency is the Achille’s Heel for HughesNet, Viasat

Satellite

Despite performance improvements over the past three years, GEO satellite providers HughesNet and Viasat can’t compete with Starlink when it comes to latency and download speeds. 

Key Takeaways

  • HughesNet saw its median multi-server latency improve from 1019 milliseconds (ms) in Q1 2022 to 683 ms in Q1 2025. Viasat’s median latency increased slightly over that time period from 676 ms in Q1 2022 to 684 ms in Q1 2025.  But neither are remotely close to matching Starlink with its median latency of just 45 ms in Q1 2025. 
  • HughesNet more than doubled its median download speeds from 20.87 Mbps in Q1 2022 to 47.79 Mbps in Q1 2025 while Viasat increased its median download speeds from 25.18 Mbps to 49.12 Mbps during that same time period.
  • Upload speeds are another area where GEO satellite constellations struggle to compete with Starlink and other low-Earth orbit systems. HughesNet has increased its median upload speeds from 2.87 Mbps in Q1 2022 to 4.44 Mbps in Q1 2025 but that is still far lower than Starlink, which has a median upload speed of 14.84 Mbps in Q1 2025. Viasat saw its median upload speeds decline over that same time period from 3.06 Mbps in Q1 2022 to 1.08 Mbps in Q1 2025.
  • HughesNet and Viasat are losing subscribers at a rapid rate thanks to competition from LEO satellite provider Starlink with its lower latency and faster download speeds.

Geostationary (GEO) satellite providers HughesNet and Viasat are best-known for providing consistent coverage across large land masses. But because they operate in geostationary orbit rather than low-Earth orbit (LEO) and because they have fewer satellites in their constellations, they struggle with speed limitations and latency, making it difficult for them to compete with LEO providers such as SpaceX’s Starlink.   

The challenges facing these GEO satellite providers have become more pronounced over the past few years, particularly as Starlink has moved aggressively into the U.S. market with promotions such as its recent offer to provide free equipment to new customers in states where it has excess capacity. 

Both HughesNet and Viasat have attempted to counteract Starlink’s impact by lowering their price plans and touting their customer service, however both companies are losing subscribers at a steady pace. HughesNet’s subscriber base has declined from 1.22 million in 2022 to just 853,000 in Q1 2025. Likewise Viasat’s subscriber count has dropped from 590,000 in fiscal Q4 2021 to just 189,000 in Q1 2025. 

HughesNet and ViaSat Subscribers Over Time
2022 and Q1 2025
A comparison of HughesNet and ViaSat's subscriber counts

HughesNet, Viasat Can’t Compete in Latency

Transmitting data from a satellite to Earth is no easy feat because of the distance involved. GEO satellite systems such as HughesNet and Viasat orbit about 22,000 miles above the earth so signals have a much greater distance to travel than Starlink’s satellites that orbit the planet in low-orbit (about 340 miles above earth).  Because of this HughesNet and Viasat have difficulty competing with Starlink in latency. 

HughesNet uses a trio of satellites named Jupiter to form its geostationary constellation.Jupiter 1 was launched in 2012 making it possible for HughesNet to debut its first high-speed satellite internet service. In 2016, the company added Jupiter 2, which expanded its North American coverage. In July 2023 HughesNet launched Jupiter 3, a high-capacity Ka-band satellite that enabled the company to boost its download speeds and increase its capacity. 

The impact of the launch of Jupiter 3 was evident in Speedtest data. HughesNet, which has traditionally had a much higher latency than Viasat, saw its median multi-server latency decline from 910 ms in Q2 2023 when Jupiter 3 launched to 853 ms in Q3 2023. The company’s median latency has continued to decline every quarter and in Q1 2025 its median latency was 683 ms and on par with Viasat but nowhere near Starlink’s average median latency of 45 ms in Q1 2025. 

Like HughesNet, Viasat relies on three satellites to deliver its fixed broadband service. Viasat-1 was launched in 2011. Viasat-2 was launched in 2017 to add more capacity and geographic coverage and in May 2023 Viasat launched Viasat-3 F1 to deliver more coverage in North America. The satellite provider has said it plans to launch Viasat-3 F2 later this year and Viasat-3 F3 in 2026. 

In addition to the three satellites Viasat operates, the company also owns a fleet of satellites that it acquired when it purchased Inmarsat in May 2023. Those satellites primarily operate in L-band and Ka-band and are used for maritime and mission-critical applications. 

However, unlike HughesNet, Viasat’s latency has remained fairly flat over the years and increased slightly over time from 676 ms in Q1 2022 to 684 ms in Q1 2025.  

A comparison of HughesNet, ViaSat and Starlink's Median Latency
Q1 2022 through Q1 2025
Starlink's low-Earth orbit median latency compared with geostationary satellite system's median latency

HughesNet, Viasat Download Speeds Are Rising But Fall Far Below Starlink

Facing competitive pressures from Starlink and other LEO players, HughesNet and Viasat have made efforts to increase their download speeds. 

For example, HughesNet supports its satellite broadband service with a dedicated fiber backbone and uses artificial intelligence (AI) to automatically reroute traffic and reduce network congestion. The company also offers a service in select areas called HughesNet Fusion that combines satellite connectivity with ground-based fixed wireless connectivity to reduce latency and improve responsiveness. 

Viasat uses an advanced spot beam technology on its satellites that are intended to more efficiently use spectrum and deliver higher bandwidth to specific geographic areas and help reduce congestion. 

Of course, at the same time HughesNet and Viasat were making these improvements, both providers were losing customers at a fast rate which also helped reduce network congestion.

Speedtest Intelligence® data gathered from Q1 2022 through Q1 2025 shows that HughesNet more than doubled its median download speeds from 20.87 Mbps in Q1 2022  to 47.79 Mbps in Q1 2025 while Viasat increased its median download speeds from 25.18 Mbps to 49.12 Mbps during that same time period. 

HughesNet and ViaSat Median and 75th Percentile Download Speeds
Q1 2022 through Q1 2025
ViaSat and HughesNet's median download speeds

However, these median download speeds still fall far below that of Starlink, which has steadily added more satellites to its constellation and significantly increased its median download and upload speeds. After experiencing a decline in median download speeds between Q1 2022 and Q3 2022, US Speedtest users on Starlink’s network saw their median download speeds nearly double from 53.95 Mbps in Q3 2022 to 104.71 Mbps in Q1 2025. 

But when looking at the 75th percentile of users for HughesNet and Viasat we see that the majority of users actually experience much higher download speeds. For example, HughesNet subscribers in the 75th percentile saw their download speeds increase from 34.02 Mbps in Q1 2022 to 95.97 Mbps in Q1 2025.  The satellite provider saw a significant increase in download speeds between Q4 2023 and Q1 2024 which was likely due to its launch of the Jupiter 3 satellite in late July 2023.

Likewise, Viasat users in the 75th percentile saw their download speeds increase from 55.06 Mbps in Q1 2022 to 78.55 Mbps in Q1 2025.  Nevertheless, these download speeds are still far below Starlink. The 75th percentile of Starlink users experienced download speeds of 137.96 Mbps in Q1 2022 and that increased to 161.42 Mbps in Q1 2025. 

HughesNet’s Upload Speeds Are Rising, Viasat’s Are Not

Upload speeds are also an area where GEO satellite constellations struggle to compete with Starlink.  HughesNet has increased its median upload speeds from 2.87 Mbps in Q1 2022 to 4.44 Mbps in Q1 2025 but that is still far lower than Starlink, which has a median upload speed of 9.81 Mbps in Q1 2022 increasing to 14.84 Mbps in Q1 2025. 

Viasat, however, saw its median upload speeds actually decline over that same time period from 3.06 Mbps in Q1 2022 to 1.08 Mbps in Q1 2025. This phenomenon was less pronounced when looking at the 75th percentile of Viasat users who experienced just a slight decline from 4.64 Mbps in Q1 2022 to 4.46 Mbps in Q1 2025. 

Upload speeds are also an area where GEO satellite constellations struggle to compete with Starlink.  HughesNet has increased its median upload speeds from 2.87 Mbps in Q1 2022 to 4.44 Mbps in Q1 2025 but that is still far lower than Starlink, which has a median upload speed of 9.81 Mbps in Q1 2022 increasing to 14.84 Mbps in Q1 2025. 

Viasat, however, saw its median upload speeds actually decline over that same time period from 3.06 Mbps in Q1 2022 to 1.08 Mbps in Q1 2025. This phenomenon was less pronounced when looking at the 75th percentile of Viasat users who experienced just a slight decline from 4.64 Mbps in Q1 2022 to 4.46 Mbps in Q1 2025. 

HughesNet and ViaSat Median and 75th Percentile Upload Speeds
Q1 2022 through Q1 2025
ViaSat and HughesNet's median Upload speeds

This decline in upload speeds happened in advance of Viasat’s launch of its Viasat-3 F1 satellite in May 2023. Viasat had hoped that the new satellite would alleviate some capacity issues. However, when the satellite launched Viasat said that it experienced an antenna deployment anomaly that significantly reduced its planned capacity. As a result, Viasat has had to rely more on its existing older Viasat-1 and Viasat-2 satellites, which may explain the slower speeds. 

Maryland, Nebraska, Hawaii Benefit from Best Download Speeds

On a state-by-state basis, Maryland is a hot spot for HughesNet users, who clocked median download speeds of 98.03 Mbps and median upload speeds of 8.73 Mbps. Hughes Network Systems, which is the parent of HughesNet, is based in Bethesda, MD and it’s likely that this is where new technologies are tested and rolled out, which explains why some of the speeds may be higher in the state. In addition, HughesNet also has a lot of contracts with the federal government, including the Department of Defense and the General Services Administration, giving them an extra incentive to provide strong service in Maryland and the areas surrounding Washington, D.C. 

Nebraska HughesNet users also are getting stronger speed than the rest of the country.  Nebraska users experienced median download speeds of 77.11 Mbps and median upload speeds of 5.03 Mbps in Q1 2025. HughesNet Fusion, which combines satellite connectivity with ground-based fixed wireless connectivity, is offered in Nebraska and may be contributing to HughesNet’s higher-than-average median download and upload speeds in the state.

Hawaii is a hotbed for Viasat users. According to Speedtest data Viasat users in Hawaii experienced median download speeds of 77.24 Mbps in Q1 2025, which is a big increase from Q1 2022 when Viasat users in Hawaii logged median download speeds of just 18.03 Mbps.

Download Speeds Are Slowest in New Jersey, Mississippi

On the other end of the spectrum,  Viasat users in Mississippi are only getting median download speeds of 27.85 Mbps as of Q1 2025 which is the lowest median download speed for Viasat in all of the 50 states. 

Likewise, HughesNet users in New Jersey are only getting median download speeds of 35.56 Mbps as of Q1 2025, which is the lowest median download speed for HughesNet in all of the 50 states. 

GEOs Face Uphill Battle

Despite launching new satellites and making improvements to  performance  over the past three years, GEO satellite providers HughesNet and Viasat are struggling to compete with Starlink and its advantages such as lower latency and faster download speeds. 

Nevertheless, HughesNet and Viasat offer consistent connectivity in areas where other connectivity  options are scarce and provide a viable solution for customers that are not latency sensitive. 

 To find out more about Speedtest Intelligence® data and insights, please contact us here.


Ookla retains ownership of this article including all of the intellectual property rights, data, content graphs and analysis. This article may not be quoted, reproduced, distributed or published for any commercial purpose without prior consent. Members of the press and others using the findings in this article for non-commercial purposes are welcome to publicly share and link to report information with attribution to Ookla.

Satellite
HughesNet

About the author

Sue Marek

Sue Marek is Ookla’s editorial director and part of the company’s analyst team. She oversees the company’s thought leadership and editorial content. Sue is a journalist with more than 30 years of experience covering the telecom industry and her work has appeared in Fierce Network, Light Reading, and SDxCentral. She is a frequent speaker at industry events and has moderated panels at Mobile World Las Vegas, Connect(x), the Consumer Electronics Show, the Competitive Carriers’ Show and 5G North America. Sue has a B.S. in journalism from the University of Colorado.

More Articles

Ookla Research™ Articles
| June 10, 2025

Starlink’s U.S. Performance is on the Rise, Making it a Viable Broadband Option in Some States

Satellite

The LEO satellite provider is giving free gear to new customers in areas where it has excess capacity. Will it be able to handle an influx of new customers and still maintain its broadband speeds? 

Key Takeaways

  • Users on Starlink’s network experienced median download speeds nearly double from 53.95 Mbps in Q3 2022 to 104.71 Mbps in Q1 2025. Median upload speeds also increased dramatically during the same period from 7.50 Mbps in Q3 2022 and to 14.84 Mbps in Q1 2025.
  • Only 17.4% of U.S. Starlink Speedtest users nationwide were able to get broadband speeds consistent with the FCC’s minimum requirement for broadband of 100 Mbps download speeds and 20 Mbps upload speeds. However, this small percentage of Starlink users is primarily due to its low upload speeds.
  • Speedtest® data for the states where Starlink is offering its free equipment to new users indicates that existing Starlink users are experiencing a range of median download speeds — from as high as 136.93 Mbps in Maine to as low as 72.65 Mbps in Alaska.
  • With Starlink’s substantial increase to its median upload and download speeds and ability to deliver broadband speeds of 100/20 Mbps to nearly 20% of Speedtest users across the country, the satellite provider is becoming an increasingly attractive broadband option for many.  

SpaceX’s low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellite provider Starlink is making inroads in the U.S. broadband market and trying to attract more subscribers by offering free equipment to new customers in states where it says it has excess capacity (more on this below).

Ookla® Speedtest data on Starlink indicates that the satellite company’s network performance has been on the uptick over the past couple of years and as of Q1 2025 17.42% of U.S. Starlink Speedtest users were able to get speeds consistent with the FCC’s minimum requirement for fixed broadband of 100 Mbps download speeds and 20 Mbps upload speeds. 

Starlink is positioned to benefit from recent changes to the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced June 6 that it had reviewed the BEAD program and, as expected, it adopted a technology-neutral stance instead of prioritizing fiber deployments, making way for LEO satellite systems like Starlink to get BEAD funding. 

In addition, some states such as Maine have launched state-funded programs that subsidize Starlink for some rural addresses and more are likely to follow. The Texas Broadband Development Office, for example, announced in January 2025 that it is developing a grant program to support LEO satellite broadband service in rural areas. 

Starlink Upload, Download Speeds Are On the Rise

Starlink’s network performance over the past three years shows a dramatic increase in median download and upload speeds as well as a decline in latency. 

Starlink’s performance across the U.S. from Q1 2022 until Q1 2025 indicates that after experiencing a decline in download speeds between Q1 2022 and Q3 2022, U.S. Speedtest users on Starlink’s network saw a median download speeds nearly double from 53.95 Mbps in Q3 2022 to 104.71 Mbps in Q1 2025. 

The decline in median download speeds between Q1 2022 and Q3 2022 was likely due to growing pains as the satellite service added more subscribers and network usage increased. 

A similar trend was observed in median upload speeds as Speedtest users saw their median upload speeds decline between Q1 2022 from 9.81 Mbps to 7.50 Mbps in Q3 2022 and then tick upward to Q1 2025 when median upload speeds reached 14.84 Mbps.

Starlink's Median Upload, Download and Latency Speeds
Q1 2022 through Q1 2025
Starlink's Median Upload, Download and Latency Speeds Over Time

Starlink’s Latency Ticks Downward

Perhaps more importantly than download and upload speeds is latency, which is the time it takes to transmit data from one point in the network to another. Transmitting data between earth and space is particularly challenging because of the distance involved. However, because Starlink’s satellites orbit the planet in low-orbit (about 340 miles above the earth) its latency is much lower than geostationary satellite systems that orbit about 22,000 miles above the earth. For example, signals from satellite system such as HughesNet have a much greater distance to travel, which is why Speedtest users on HughesNet experience a much higher median latency than Starlink Speedtest users. 

A comparison of Starlink's Median Latency with HughesNet's Median Latency
Q1 2022 through Q1 2025
Starlink's low-Earth orbit median latency compared with geostationary satellite system's median latency

Starlink users in the U.S. experienced a median multi-server latency of 76 milliseconds (ms) in Q2 2022, but latency measurements ticked downward over time and in Q1 2025 Speedtest users clocked an average median latency of 45 ms.

Starlink said in March 2024 that it was improving its latency in the U.S. by adding six additional internet connection locations (also referred to as PoPs) and optimizing its gateway locations and its planning algorithms to ensure that traffic lands as close to its destination point as possible. 

In addition, the satellite company has also steadily added more satellites to its constellation. In February 2022 Starlink had 1,560 satellites in orbit and as of February 2025 it had 6,751 satellites in orbit. At publication of this report, Starlink had launched an additional 24 satellites into low Earth orbit. 


Starlink’s New Free Equipment Offer Targets Several States

Starlink recently announced plans to offer free equipment (valued at around $350) to new customers in areas where it has excess capacity. In the U.S., those areas are depicted on the map below and include all or portions of about 33 states. 

Map of Starlink's Free Equipment Offer Includes These States

Customers who receive the free gear must commit to a one-year plan, and they have a choice of one of two residential plans: An $80/mo plan that will give them speeds between 50-100 Mbps and a $120/mo plan that provides speeds of 250 Mbps. 

Ookla Speedtest data for the states where Starlink is offering the free equipment indicates that existing Starlink users are experiencing a range of median download speeds — from as high as 136.93 Mbps in Maine to as low as 72.65 Mbps in Alaska. Perhaps more telling is the download speeds for Speedtest users in the 25th percentile, which provides the download speed performance for the bottom quarter of Speedtest users in these states. 

With the exception of Alaska, the overall performance of the rest of the states, particularly the 25th percentile users in Nebraska, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Nevada and Wyoming is probably a better indication of why Starlink is offering free gear to these states. With the 25th percentile of Starlink users in these states experiencing download speeds of more than 80 Mbps there is likely plenty of excess capacity. 

Although Starlink said its goal is to deliver service with just 20 milliseconds (ms) median latency, the lowest median latency rates recorded by Speedtest users in all or portions of the selected states was 38 ms in the District of Columbia and 39 ms in Arizona, Colorado and New Jersey. Alaska and Hawaii have the highest latency rates of 105 ms and 115 ms respectively. The higher latency rates in these two states is likely due to these two states being more geographically distant from Starlink’s constellation of satellites and not having the same density of satellites as the continental U.S.

Speedtest Performance for Starlink Users in States that Get Free Gear 

The portions or entirety of 33 states or territories where Starlink has decided to offer free gear to potential customers include both high density areas such as Washington D.C. and New Jersey as well as low density states like Alaska and Wyoming. With the exception of Alaska and West Texas, all of the states have a median download speed of more than 100 Mbps.

When looking at the 25th percentile of users (which are the bottom quarter of Starlink users in download speed performance) only one state – Alaska– has a download speed in the 30 Mbps range and three states have 25th percentile users getting in the 50 Mbps range for download speeds. 

In addition, when it comes to latency, 20 states have a median latency between 40-49 ms and two states on this list—Arizona and New Jersey— and Washington, D.C. —have median latency under 40 ms.

Starlink Speedtest Performance In the 50 U.S. States
How each state performs in latency, median download, and 25th percentile download
Starlink's performance in latency, median download, and 25th percentile download in all 50 states in the U.S.

Speedtest Performance in States Not Included in Starlink’s Free Equipment Offer

Many of the states where residents are not eligible to get Starlink’s free equipment offer are in the middle and southeastern areas of the U.S. and only eleven of those states have median download speeds over 100 Mbps compared to 28 states and Washington, D.C. that are in the eligible equipment list. 

Median latency rates in these ineligible states are very similar to the eligible states with 14 states having a median latency rate between 40- 49 ms. However, when examining the 25th percentile of users (which are the bottom quarter of Starlink users in download speed performance) one state — Florida — has 25th percentile download speeds of just 27.12 Mbps, Washington has 25th percentile download speeds of 46.92 Mbps and Louisiana has 25th percentile download speeds of just 48.25 Mbps. 

Northeast and Rural Mid-West States Win in Minimum Broadband Speeds 

Only 17.4% of Starlink Speedtest users are able to get broadband speeds consistent with the FCC’s minimum requirement for broadband of 100 Mbps download speeds and 20 Mbps upload speeds. Much of this is due to Starlink’s low upload speeds, which are on the uptick but with a combined overall median upload speed of 14.84 Mbps in Q1 2025 there is still room for improvement. 

However, when we look at all satellite providers that deliver service in the U.S., these providers combined are only able to provide 15.75% of Speedtest users with speeds that meet the FCC’s minimum requirement of 100/20 Mbps, which means Starlink outperforms the other providers in this category. 

On a state level analysis, when comparing the median download and upload speeds collected in Q1 2025 across all 50 states and Washington, D.C., South Dakota is the No. 1 state with 42.3% of Starlink users getting the FCC’s minimum standard for fixed broadband speeds (100 Mbps downstream/20 Mbps upstream). All of the top-performing Starlink states are in the Northeastern and Midwestern U.S. 

On the opposite end of the spectrum, the states with the lowest percentage of users receiving 100/20 Mbps broadband speeds are primarily in the Southeastern U.S. The only state outside of that area is Alaska with the smallest number of Speedtest users —just 5.3%—receiving 100/20 Mbps.

States With the Highest % of Starlink Users that Receive 100/20 Mbps Broadband Speeds 

State% of Starlink users that receive 100/20 Mbps
South Dakota42.3
Rhode Island 39.0
Wyoming38.5
Maine 36.5
Massachusetts 35.1
Data as of Q1 2025

States with the Lowest % of Starlink Users that Receive 100/20 Mbps Broadband Speeds

State % of Starlink users that receive 100/20 Mbps
Alaska5.3
Mississippi8.4
Louisiana9.0
Arkansas9.6
Florida9.8
Data as of Q1 2025

Starlink Delivers a Viable Broadband Option for Many

In our recent U.S. state broadband report which focused on Speedtest data from the 2H of 2024, we found that the number of states with 60% or more of Speedtest users getting speeds of 100/20 Mbps had increased substantially from the 1H of 2024. 

However, it was disheartening to discover that during that same time period the digital divide within many states had actually increased (some of this is attributed to the demise of the Affordable Connectivity Program) rather than decreased leading us to conclude that many of the recent broadband investments were resulting in better urban coverage rather than closing the gap in rural areas. 

With Starlink’s substantial increase to its median upload and download speeds and ability to deliver broadband speeds of 100/20 Mbps to nearly 20% of Speedtest users across the country, the satellite provider is becoming an increasingly attractive broadband option for many. 

With Starlink’s latest promotional offer of free equipment to consumers in areas where it has excess capacity, we expect to see the company’s subscriber count grow throughout 2025. It will be interesting to see how the LEO provider balances subscriber growth with capacity. 

We will continue to monitor Starlink’s speed performance in the U.S. throughout the year. For more information about Speedtest Intelligence® data and insights, please get in touch.

Ookla retains ownership of this article including all of the intellectual property rights, data, content graphs and analysis. This article may not be quoted, reproduced, distributed or published for any commercial purpose without prior consent. Members of the press and others using the findings in this article for non-commercial purposes are welcome to publicly share and link to report information with attribution to Ookla.

Satellite
Starlink

About the author

Sue Marek

Sue Marek is Ookla’s editorial director and part of the company’s analyst team. She oversees the company’s thought leadership and editorial content. Sue is a journalist with more than 30 years of experience covering the telecom industry and her work has appeared in Fierce Network, Light Reading, and SDxCentral. She is a frequent speaker at industry events and has moderated panels at Mobile World Las Vegas, Connect(x), the Consumer Electronics Show, the Competitive Carriers’ Show and 5G North America. Sue has a B.S. in journalism from the University of Colorado.

More Articles

Ookla Research™ Articles
| May 8, 2025

Boost Mobile's Network Performance is on the Uptick, but Lags its Peers

5G SA

The operator’s download and upload speeds increased in the latter part of 2024, which coincides with Boost Mobile’s efforts to migrate customers onto its 5G network and off its roaming partners’ networks.

Key Takeaways

  • According to Speedtest data, Boost Mobile users nationwide saw their 5G median download speeds increased from 146.53 Mbps in September 2024 to 167.39 Mbps in April 2025. 
  • Boost Speedtest users also experienced a similar phenomenon in their median upload speeds. Those speeds increased from 9.87 Mbps in September 2024 to 11.47 Mbps in April 2025. 
  • Despite its improvements in median download and upload speeds in the latter part of 2024, Boost’s overall 5G upload and download speeds still lag in performance compared  to all other US 5G providers combined. 

Boost Mobile, the scrappy fourth 5G nationwide U.S. wireless network provider, has come a long way from its origin as a prepaid mobile brand launched by Sprint back in 2001. The wireless operator, which today is owned by Dish Network (and Dish’s parent company EchoStar), started building a nationwide greenfield 5G standalone (SA) network in 2022 using open radio access network (O-RAN) technology.  

By mid-2023 Boost Mobile had covered more than 70% of the US population with its network. Today it claims to cover 80% of the U.S. population with its 5G SA network. It also has roaming deals with T-Mobile and AT&T, which extends its footprint beyond its existing coverage area. 

Dish claims that its greenfield 5G SA network is more efficient than its competitors, however, Speedtest data indicates that while its network performance improved in the latter part of 2024, it still falls below the combined network upload and download speeds of the other 5G providers in the U.S.

Boost’s Big Ambitions

Boost has big aspirations to be a major wireless competitor in the U.S. market. CTO Eben Albertyn recently told attendees at the Competitive Carriers Association conference in Denver in April that the company expects to outperform AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon in network superiority in several cities this year. 

Boost Mobile ended 2024 with 6.995 million wireless customers, which is down from the 9 million customers Boost had in 2020 when it was sold to Dish Network for $1.4 billion as a condition of T-Mobile’s acquisition of Sprint.  

After several quarters of losing customers, the company experienced a bit of a turnaround in Q4 2024 when it added 90,000 net subscribers. This is an improvement over Q4 2023 when it lost 123,000 customers and over Q3 2024 when it lost 297,000 customers. The company will be reporting its Q1 2025 earnings May 9, 2025. 

Median Download and Upload Speeds Are on the Rise

Analysis of Ookla Speedtest data from September 2024 to April 2025 demonstrates that Boost Mobile Speedtest 5G users clocked a median download speed of 146.53 Mbps in September 2024 before ticking up to 167.39 Mbps in April 2025. However, Boost’s median download speeds still falls significantly short when compared to all other 5G providers in the market which have a combined median 5G download speed of 237.61 Mbps in April 2025.  

At the same time, Boost Mobile’s median upload speeds showed a similar pattern. Boost Speedtest users saw their median upload speeds of 9.87 Mbps in September 2024 increase to 11.47 Mbps in April 2025, which is still lower than the median upload speeds of all other 5G providers combined at 12.50 Mbps as of April 2025. 

These increases and decreases in median upload and download speeds coincide with the Boost’s migration of its customers onto its 5G network and off its partners’ roaming networks (more on this below). 

A Comparison of Boost Mobile's 5G Median Upload, Download and Latency Speeds
September 2024 through April 2025
A comparison of Boost Mobile's 5G Median Upload, Download and Latency Speeds from September 2024 until April 2025

Boost Lags in Latency

Latency is a key metric for wireless operators because it measures the responsiveness or reaction time of a connection – in other words, how quickly your device responds to a request. In this metric, Speedtest data measures multi-server latency, which calculates latency to multiple connections and then takes an average. 

Boost logged a latency rate of 56 ms in September 2024, which declined slightly to 54 ms in December 2024 and January 2025 but rose again to 56 ms in April 2024. However, this latency rate is quite a bit higher than 48 ms in latency measured by the other wireless providers combined in April 2025. 

Web Page Load Times Improve


Web page load times are an important network performance measurement because they indicate how quickly popular web pages load for consumers. Ookla Speedtest data from April 2025 shows Boost with a web page load time of 1.80 seconds.This is a slight decrease from September 2024 when Boost users logged web page load times of 1.90 seconds. All other 5G providers combined had a median web page load time of 1.40 seconds in April 2025.

A Comparison of 5G Web Load Times
September 2024 through April 2025
A comparison of Boost Mobile's 5G Web Load Times from September 2024 until April 2025

Boost’s Origin Story Likely Impacting Network Performance

Boost’s network performance is most likely influenced by the company’s origin as a prepaid brand on Sprint’s network.

Although Dish initially referred to its wireless brand as Dish Wireless, the company rebooted its branding in July 2024 and now uses the Boost Mobile brand exclusively.

Those original Boost Mobile prepaid customers remained on T-Mobile’s network while Dish built its greenfield cloud-native 5G SA network. In July 2021 Dish signed a roaming deal with AT&T to give it access to AT&T’s network and provide coverage for Boost Mobile customers (and also its other MVNO customers that it acquired when it purchased Ting Mobile and Republic Wireless).  

At the time, Boost said that its roaming deal with AT&T would be particularly advantageous in rural areas and would allow it to provide wireless services to customers while it continued with its network build.

Because Boost started as a prepaid brand and then acquired more prepaid MVNO brands it’s likely that much of its installed prepaid subscriber base uses mid-tier or low-tier devices that may not be taking full advantage of Boost’s 5G network. 

By June 2023 Boost had met its first coverage requirement (as determined by the FCC) by covering 70% of the U.S. population with its 5G network. At the end of 2024 Boost said that its network now reaches 80% of the U.S. population with 5G. The FCC last September granted Dish an extension to meet its final buildout requirement by December 14, 2026.

Boost today claims to cover 80% of the population of the U.S. with its 5G SA network. However, many of Boost’s customers are still roaming on AT&T and T-Mobile’s networks due to those prior roaming relationships. During Echostar’s Q4 2024 earnings call with investors, executives from Boost Mobile said that only one million of its nearly 7 million  wireless customers are actually using Boost’s 5G network. 

Boost also said that it is loading more than 75% of compatible devices on its SA network in accelerated markets. 

Spectrum and Handsets Are Key Factors in Boost’s Performance

Boost Mobile’s network performance is also impacted by the mix of spectrum for its 5G SA network. The company deployed its 5G network using a mix of mid-band and low-band spectrum.

Boost claims that it is the first operator of a 5G network to use simultaneous four-carrier downlink and two-carrier uplink aggregation to allow for speedier connections. In October 2023 Boost said that by working with Samsung and Qualcomm it had achieved simultaneous 2x uplink and 4x downlink carrier aggregation and attained peak uplink speeds of 200 Mbps with just 35 MHz of 5G spectrum. It also said it achieved peak downlink speeds of 1.3 Gbps using just 75 MHz of 5G spectrum across FDD bands n71, n70 and n66. 

While that four-carrier downlink and two-carrier uplink aggregation may be helping Boost improve its download and upload speeds it hasn’t been enough to make it speedier than the other nationwide providers. 

As Boost Mobile migrates customers onto its 5G network and off its roaming partners, it also will be moving those customers onto new handsets that are compatible with the new network and will likely improve the customer experience. 

Boost Mobile has been aggressive with its iPhone and Samsung Galaxy device promotions. In February it offered new customers an iPhone 16e for $199.99. In addition, it also offers significant discounts to existing customers on the latest iPhone and Samsung Galaxy devices when they upgrade to the company’s Infinite Access plan. 

This plan, which costs $65/month, includes 30GB of premium data and comes with a new iPhone. The plan also allows customers to upgrade to a new device every year, without having to trade in their old phone. 

Boost Needs Customers and Customer Experience

Boost has made great strides in building a greenfield 5G SA network in the U.S. from scratch  but now the operator needs to deliver on its promise of building a state-of-the-art network by showing the type of stellar performance that one might expect.

We’ll continue to monitor Boost’s network performance, particularly as it continues to grow its customer base and become less reliant upon its roaming partners. 

 To find out more about Speedtest Intelligence® data and insights, please contact us here.

Ookla retains ownership of this article including all of the intellectual property rights, data, content graphs and analysis. This article may not be quoted, reproduced, distributed or published for any commercial purpose without prior consent. Members of the press and others using the findings in this article for non-commercial purposes are welcome to publicly share and link to report information with attribution to Ookla.

5G SA
Boost Mobile

About the author

Sue Marek

Sue Marek is Ookla’s editorial director and part of the company’s analyst team. She oversees the company’s thought leadership and editorial content. Sue is a journalist with more than 30 years of experience covering the telecom industry and her work has appeared in Fierce Network, Light Reading, and SDxCentral. She is a frequent speaker at industry events and has moderated panels at Mobile World Las Vegas, Connect(x), the Consumer Electronics Show, the Competitive Carriers’ Show and 5G North America. Sue has a B.S. in journalism from the University of Colorado.

More Articles

Ookla Research™ Articles
| April 23, 2025

U.S. Broadband Speeds Are Improving but the Digital Divide Is Growing

Regulatory

A new report from Ookla found that the digital divide increased for 32 states between 1H 2024 and 2H 2024, indicating that much of the broadband expansion is occurring in urban areas instead of rural areas.

Key Takeaways

  • The number of states with 60% or more of users experiencing the FCC’s minimum standard for fixed broadband speeds of 100 Mbps downstream and 20 Mbps upstream increased from 10 states in the 1H of 2024 to 22 states (and the District of Columbia) in the 2H of 2024. 
  • New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware, North Dakota, and Maryland are the top five states with the highest percentage of Speedtest users with 100/20 Mbps. 
  • 32 states saw their digital divide increase between the 1H of 2024 and the 2H of 2024 and 17 states saw their digital divide decrease. 

Many U.S. states made sizable gains in their broadband infrastructure during 2024 and much of that growth was fueled by private equity financing, mergers and acquisitions, capex investments, and government funding. 

According to Ookla Speedtest Intelligence® data, the number of states in the U.S. delivering the minimum standard for fixed broadband speeds as designated by the Federal Communications Commissions (FCC) of 100 Mbps downstream and 20 Mbps upstream is growing. In fact, in our latest U.S. State Broadband Report, we found that states with 60% or more of Speedtest users receiving 100/20 Mbps dramatically increased between the first half and the second half of 2024. 

However, that increase didn’t result in sweeping improvements to the digital divide. Instead, 32 states saw their gap between the percentage of urban users and rural users that receive the minimum required broadband speeds grow during this time period. Ookla uses the Census Bureau’s urban-rural classification to determine which users are urban vs. rural. 

New Jersey is No. 1

Seven states now have 65% or more of Speedtest users experiencing the FCC’s minimum standard for broadband of 100/20 Mbps. New Jersey is No. 1 with 68.97% of Speedtest users experiencing the FCC’s minimum requirement followed closely by Connecticut with 68.35%. Delaware moved up from the No. 5 slot in the first half of the year to the No. 3 ranking in the second half of 2024. 

On the opposite end of the spectrum, Montana and Alaska have fewer than 40% of Speedtest users that receive the minimum broadband speeds of 100/20 Mbps so it’s no surprise that Montana and Alaska are also two of the least densely populated states in the country. 

Digital Divide Grows

While the number of states with 60% or more of users experiencing 100/20 Mbps more than doubled from the first half of 2024 to the second half of 2024, it appears that much of that progress occurred in urban areas because the digital divide, which is the gap between urban and rural users in a state, became much more prominent in 32 states during that time period. 

Washington state leads the nation with the biggest digital divide in the second half of 2024 and it was also at the top of the list in the first half of the year. Oregon and Illinois are also top states with the biggest digital divide in the second half of the year. 

The lack of affordable broadband is known to exacerbate the digital divide and some of this increase in the digital divide is likely due to the demise of the Affordable Connectivity Plan (ACP), which provided discounted broadband services to more than 23 million low-income U.S. households. The FCC ended the ACP program on June 1, 2024, because of a lack of Congressional funding. 

Download the Full Report 

To find your state’s standing and how it compares to the other 49 states in broadband connectivity, download this free report here.

Ookla retains ownership of this article including all of the intellectual property rights, data, content graphs and analysis. This article may not be quoted, reproduced, distributed or published for any commercial purpose without prior consent. Members of the press and others using the findings in this article for non-commercial purposes are welcome to publicly share and link to report information with attribution to Ookla.

Regulatory
Government
broadband

About the author

Sue Marek

Sue Marek is Ookla’s editorial director and part of the company’s analyst team. She oversees the company’s thought leadership and editorial content. Sue is a journalist with more than 30 years of experience covering the telecom industry and her work has appeared in Fierce Network, Light Reading, and SDxCentral. She is a frequent speaker at industry events and has moderated panels at Mobile World Las Vegas, Connect(x), the Consumer Electronics Show, the Competitive Carriers’ Show and 5G North America. Sue has a B.S. in journalism from the University of Colorado.

More Articles