Pasadena broadband: the most expensive is only average speed

I did some personal research into Pasadena's internet situation this week after seeing a link to a report on the average speed of U.S. Internet connection.

To make it succinct: the U.S. has lackluster Internet speed, California has lackluster Internet speed, and Pasadena does as well, at least compared to some other countries that we ought to be competitive with.

The city's has two major providers Charter and AT & T, and the fastest speed you can get from either is up to 6 mbps (megabits per second). Note the "up to." That means it isn't guaranteed to be that fast.

How does that stack up? California's average speed is 6.6 mbps. The U.S. has an average of 5.1. Japan has a 16 mbps average, Sweden, 12.7, and South Korea, a whopping 20.1.

What is discouraging for us in Pasadena, is that 6 mbps, which you can get through AT & T, costs $45 a month. Its cheapest service, which I have, costs $25 a month, and has paltry speeds of up to 768 kbps (also known as .768 mbps, less than 1/20 the average speed the enjoy in South Korea). Try watching TV episodes online with that speed, and you are pretty much guaranteed to have at least a couple of breaks for the screen to "buffer."

The "fast" connection you can get through Charter, which is more expensive than basic, gets speeds up to 1.5 mbps.

If you look at the statewide map, provided in the report, you can see that the Bay Area is generally whopping L.A. County in terms of Internet speed.

The one bright spot for Pasadena, is that we may soon have faster options from AT & T's UVerse option, which offers speeds up to 20 mbps. The company got permission last year from the council to install some cable boxes, that were somewhat controversial at the time. Those boxes may well insure that we can have faster Internet.

The question will be at what cost? I've been told from other UVerse users that in order to get fast internet you have to pay for a bundle package that includes other services, like television or a telephone line.

UPDATE: One reader mentions that he gets speeds of up to 10 mbps in Altadena with Charter. One thing I should note is that different areas may have different speeds available. This post reflects the options I get at my house in the Lamanda Park area. It does make me curious now to follow up and see if the speeds vary throughout the Pasadena/Altadena area a lot, and if so, what might be done about it.