St. Paul gets top ranking for speedy Internet

Ookla says St. Paul (MN) has recently become No. 1 in the nation in residential Internet download speeds. Minneapolis is no slouch either, coming in seventh in the current Net Index report. But some local experts say Ookla's numbers are questionable.

They point out that 18 months ago the state-sponsored Ultra High-Speed Broadband Task Force found that average residential broadband speeds in Ramsey and Hennepin counties averaged 6 million to 10 million bits per second, also called megabits. But Ookla's average speeds -- 14.5 megabits in St. Paul and 12.3 in Minneapolis -- were significantly higher. Its statewide average was 12.5 megabits, significantly higher than the national average of 10.5. The local experts suspect that Ookla's survey of residential Internet speeds is flawed because it accidentally included some high-capacity corporate Internet connections, whose speeds far exceed anything available to consumers. In response, Ookla, which makes a living providing speed test information to corporations, questioned the low speeds found by the state task force. Those numbers came from another Internet firm, Connected Nation.