Fog and mountains also responsible for woeful rural internet connection speeds
The next time you're lamenting the slow pace of your latest YouTube video download, be glad you don't live in Idaho (and if you do, we're very sorry). The largely rural state's lack of?bandwidth has earned it the dubious distinction of the state with the slowest internet speeds, according to a recent study that clocked the average Idaho download speed at a measly 318kb per second.
The culprit? In some instances, bears. No, really. During one internet outage reported by Idaho resident Barry Ramsay, work crews had to use snowmobiles to get to the towers responsible for carrying his signal. They discovered that bears had been rubbing against the towers, causing the connection problems. Blame is also frequently placed on fog and snow, which can disrupt line of sight between signal towers. The rural, mountainous terrain is a logistical nightmare to connect, with outages frequently occurring in areas that are difficult to get to for repairs.
Given the state's low population density, many?broadband providers simply can't justify the cost of bringing higher connection speeds to the more far-flung areas. Despite the existence of several grant and low-interest loan programs to help communities pay for high-speed infrastructure, the cost is prohibitively expensive for most locales. There are bright spots, though, including the Idaho Education Network, which provides high-speed broadband access to all state high schools.
On the other end of the spectrum, the nation's smallest state clocked the highest connection speeds: Rhode Island came in #1 with 894 kb per second. The Boston suburb of Andover, Massachusetts, earned the title of the city with the fastest internet connection. As a whole, the United States lags well behind most developed nations, ranking at #25, behind such countries as South Korea and Romania.
[Image credit:?Blaise Alleyne]
[via?New York Times]
Article by?Katherine Gray
This article originally appeared on Tecca
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