5G Speeds In the US Rank Dead Last Among Early Adopters

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Gizmodo: A new report released by Ookla placed the U.S. at the very top of a list of 40 countries in terms of 5G availability. To determine this, Ookla tested to see what percent of users with 5G devices spent the majority of their time actually on 5G during Q3. Under that criteria, the U.S. ranked number one with 49.2% availability. But hold on, don't whip out your red, white, and blue foam finger just yet, it's not all good news. The actual download and upload speeds (in other words, the whole point) of 5G networks still vary significantly by country according to the report. Though the U.S. ranked first in availability, its actual download speeds were amongst the worst of early 5G adopter nations. Ookla placed median 5G download speeds at 93.73 Mbps in the US, far lower than the UK's 184.2 Mbps median and far lower still than South Korea, which led the pack at 492.48 Mbps. The U.S. placed around the same relative position for upload speeds as well. And while U.S. wireless customers can take some solace knowing they're on the top of the availability list, the list itself is unimpressive as a whole, especially in relation to the types of coverage necessary for 5G's most ambitious promises.

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