Another thread currently has been discussing UK hookups, and I might have added this as a comment there; but it probably deserves its own place.

PC Magazine not long ago offered a free download "speed-o-meter" that people could run on their own machines, that gave the individual a check on connection speed and also sent a report back to the publishers.

The results are in, and are reported in the 26 June 2007 issue of PC Magazine.

A "header" for the report(s) may be found at State of The Union: Internet Speeds Across The United States.

"With the help of nearly 40,000 surfers, we averaged the Internet speed of each of the 50 states and helped you find the fastest regional ISP."

At this page, there is a jScript link to an "interactive map" where you can click on a state and see which services gave the best speed readings from the survey.

On the map, it should be noted that some states are "pretty big," and the results reported may not apply statewide.

The "real article" is at Real World Testing: The Best ISPs in America. Here you'll find a description of what was tested (which differs some from the most commonly reported "speeds") and some perhaps useful comments about when speed is really important and when other considerations may be worth thinking about.

(This site likes to break articles up into "bite size bits." If you click "Print This" at the bottom of the first page, you should get the whole article in one piece for easier reading.)

This last article especially may be of interest to anyone considering a change, and you'll want to look at it if the "top contenders" from the map aren't easily available to you.

I didn't find an answer to my concerns about dishonest and misleading advertising by ALL available providers in my area; but it's apparently so common that there's really little difference between providers.

FWIW.

John