Netflix today released its ISP rankings for January, and Google Fiber once again provided the best average speed for Netflix streaming.
Cablevision's Optimum and Suddenlink, however, made some gains, topping Charter and Verizon's FiOS in the top five.
Netflix announced in December that it would start publishing monthly rankings of U.S. IPSs based on their performance across all Netflix streams. At the time, Google Fiber ranked No. 1 for November, followed by Verizon FiOS, Comcast, Charter, and Cablevision.
According to Netflix's stats, Google Fiber produces an average speed of 3.02 Mbps. Access to Google Fiber, of course, is quite limited at this point. The search giant just started rolling it out to several neighborhoods in the Kansas City area, so network congestion is not exactly a major problem right now. Still, the company's average is up from 2.55 Mbps in November, making it the fastest U.S. ISP.
Google Fiber was followed by Cablevision's Optimum service at 2.24 Mbps. Cablevision is part of Netflix's Open Connect program, which serves as the video provider's very own content delivery system. Those that sign up have access to Netflix Super HD, which is the highest quality video format offered by Netflix, boosting picture on 1080p HDTVs.
"The highest-quality Netflix experience from any major ISP is on Optimum," Gemma Toner, senior vice president of broadband product management for Cablevision, said in a statement. "We have a direct connection with the online video provider that ensures superior viewing and more extensive content than any of our competitors can deliver."
Suddenlink is at No. 3 with 2.08 Mbps, followed by Verizon FiOS at 2.04 Mbps, Comcast with 2.01 Mbps, and Mediacom with 2 Mpbs.
The Open Connect program does not sit well with Time Warner Cable, which landed at No. 8 in January with an average of 1.99 Mbps.
"Time Warner Cable is currently in discussions with Netflix regarding acceptable commercial terms for its delivery network," a Time Warner spokesman said recently. "While they call it 'Open Connect,' Netflix is actually closing off access to some of its content while seeking unprecedented preferential treatment from ISPs. We believe it is wrong for Netflix to withhold any content formats from our subscribers and the subscribers of many other ISPs. Time Warner Cable's network is more than capable of delivering this content to Netflix subscribers today."
Verizon said it does not use Netflix Open Connect but is evaluating the situation.
Netflix noted that its rankings are the average performance for all the Netflix streams on each ISP's network.
"The average is well below the peak performance due to many factors including home Wi-Fi, the variety of devices our members use, and the variety of encodes we use to deliver the TV shows and movies we carry," Netflix said. "Those factors cancel out when comparing across ISPs, so these relative rankings are a good indicator of the consistent performance typically experienced across all users on an ISP network."
For more, see PCMag's roundup of the Top 10 Netflix Alternatives.
For more from Chloe, follow her on Twitter @ChloeAlbanesius.
Source: http://feeds.ziffdavis.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/breakingnews/~3/2h9Kc2kXgOc/0,2817,2415306,00.asp
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