Akamai’s publicly filed dataset of observed average Internet download speeds for U.S. network connections is now on Needle. Needle makes it easy to map the reported cities and states according to an average speed threshold. For example, 79 out of the 500 reported cities have average Internet download speed less 2048 kbit/s. Here’s a map of states that contain those cities. The map shows that relatively low average Internet download speeds by city are widely dispersed geographically.
To generate a map for an average speed threshold of your own choosing, click on “city” under “every” on the left of the Needle page. Then click on “>>” on the table heading, just to the right of “every city.” Then click on “keep only those where…”, and then click on “ave speed.” Ave speed jumps to the top of the list and a drop-down selection box appears. Select “is less than,” and enter a figure (kbit/s) in the box to the right. Then click on next. The screen will change slightly to reflect your choice, and a “done” button will appear. Click on the “done” button. You’ll then see a list of the relevant cites. On the upper right, change the drop-down selector from “table” to “map.” You’ll then see a map with markers for states that contain cities that satisfy your selection criterion. If you change the “group by” drop-down selector from “state” to “city,” the map will change to include markers for each city that satisfies your selection criterion. You can similarly map state average speeds by clicking on “state” rather than “city” in the first step. To change your selection criterion, you must start by clicking on “city” or “state” on the left and redo the steps above.
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