The darker blue it is, the faster a state is, ranging from an average of 50.64 to 121.45 Mbps. (Ookla Image)

Even if it feels like your broadband connection is slug-slow at times, on the whole fixed internet connection speeds are rapidly rising. And Washington is in the top 10 of U.S. states.

Ookla Wednesday released its annual Speedtest U.S. Fixed Broadband Performance Report, based on data from more than 24 million users in the second and third quarters of 2018. Overall, it shows a nearly 36 percent increase in mean download speed from last year — to 96.25 Mbps — and a 22 percent increase in upload speed, to 32.88 Mbps.

Part of the reason, Ookla says, is the expansion of gigabit services nationwide. However, the U.S. still lags globally: It’s seventh for download speed, tucked between Hungary and Switzerland, and 27th for upload speed, between Bulgaria and Canada.

Xfinity topped the list of the fastest U.S. providers, followed closely by Verizon and Cox.

(Ookla Image)

At the state level, Washington ranked ninth, with an average download speed of 106.65 Mbps and an upload speed of 25.76 Mbps. The top ISP in the state was Xfinity, mirroring the national results. Oregon was further down the list, sporting downloads at 90.96 Mbps and uploads at 23.49 Mbps, with Xfinity still the fastest provider.

The very fastest state? New Jersey. The slowest? Maine — likely, the report says, due to low population density “which makes broadband investments there less cost effective.”

When it comes to cities measured, Seattle averaged download speeds of 119.89 Mbps and Portland of 110.24 Mbps, with Wave G cited as the fastest ISP in Seattle, and Xfinity as the fastest in Portland. Kansas City, Mo. was the fastest city overall with downloads of 159.19 Mbps, and its top provider for speed was Google Fiber.

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