Google Fiber and Muni Broadband Rank Atop Consumer Reports' ISP Survey, While Comcast, Mediacom and Altice Scrape the Bottom

The average broadband speed is up from 173 megabits per second in 2022 to 304 Mbps, but average monthly ISP prices have increased by around $9 to $85 over the same span.

And more than half of the 48,000 members it surveyed, Consumer Reports said, gave their internet service provider an unfavorable rating in the company's third annual dive into internet service quality and satisfaction .

“We’ve observed consistent dissatisfaction among CR members in recent years when it comes to their telecommunication services, and internet service is no exception,” says Tian Wang, senior survey research associate at CR. “In fact, telecommunication services are some of the least popular of all the services that CR members help us to rate."

Speaking broadly, fiber-based service providers scored the highest, with 69% of customers reporting to be "completely" or "very" satisfied, vs. just 39% for cable.

Among individual providers, Greenlight Networks, which serves municipalities in New York's Rochester, Buffalo, Binghamton and Albany areas, scored highest in the survey, a "95." Meanwhile, Chattanooga, Tenn. municipal broadband service, EPB, ranked second with a 92.

Allo Fiber, Google Fiber, GoNetSpeed and Sonic also were on the top side of the list.

Scoring worst (14 points each) were satellite broadband providers Viasat Internet and HughesNet. Other poor performers included Comcast Xfinity (28), CenturyLink’s Lumen (25), Mediacom’s Xtream (25) and Altice’s Optimum (20).

So yeah, we just listed cable companies serving millions of American homes as "other poor performers."

Service monopolies remain a barrier to quality in many regions. Nearly half of those surveyed said they had two or fewer options for ISPs.