Cox Communications hopped to the top of Netflix’s ISP Speed Index among top U.S. ISPs for the month of June, while Verizon FiOS dropped two spots, good for the No. 3 position.
That was the highlight amid some jockeying among the nation’s top ISPs, at least when viewed through Netflix’s lens, which calculates its rankings by measuring performance of Netflix streams during prime time hours.
Those rankings, particularly at the top, don’t represent a huge difference in terms of average Netflix streaming speeds. But they do provide ISPs with bragging rights, considering that Netflix represents more than one-third U.S. Internet traffic on fixed networks, according to Sandvine.
Cox, with an average of 3.58 Mbps, rose two spots to claim the top slot, edging out Cablevision Systems (3.57 Mbps), Verizon FiOS (3.43 Mbps), Comcast (3.39 Mbps), and Suddenlink Communications (3.37 Mbps), which rose three spots. Time Warner Cable dropped two spots, to No. 9, with an average of 3.19 Mbps.
Cox, Cablevision Systems and Suddenlink are among the known members of Open Connect, Netflix’s private content delivery network that uses single-purpose edge caches. Netflix has also signed paid interconnection deals with Comcast, TWC, Verizon and AT&T (Bright House is benefiting from the TWC-Netflix agreement).
Clearwire, the only wireless ISP represented on that list, remained in last place (1.13 Mbps), ahead of Verizon DSL (1.83 Mbps) and CenturyLink (2.25 Mbps), which dropped two spots.
Under Netflix’s expanded results, Google Fiber remained at the top of the U.S. ISP heap (3.80 Mbps), followed by Grande Communications (3.73 Mbps), Midcontinent Communications (3.65 Mbps) and RCN (3.64 Mbps).
