The Best and Worst ISPs

I play games...I wish they'd increase the upload speed to at least a meg. Chris Hesler, IT professional, Cincinnati — Chris Hesler

You want a faster Internet? So does IT professional Chris Hesler of Cincinnati. When his 5-megabits-per-second Road Runner broadband connection from Time Warner Cable proved too sluggish for his needs, Hesler, 22, upgraded to the company's top-of-the-line 8-mbps service. For him, the reduced latency times and 512-kilobits-per-second upload speed (up from 256 kbps) paid off.

"My roommate and I play a lot of video games, like World of Warcraft. We switched to get our latency times down a little bit on the games," says Hesler, who now has the ability to download a 1GB document in just 20 minutes.

That's fast, perhaps, but not fast enough--especially when it comes to uploads. Like many broadband users, Hesler craves more bandwidth: "I wish they'd increase the upload speed to at least a meg."

Chart: Fiber and Cable Providers Continue to Impress Home Users

Verizon came out on top with its FiOS ISP service; last year's favorite, Cablevision, came in a close second, tied with Cox. Click either the link or the icon below to see how ISPs scored.

ISP Survey Results

ISP	Connection type	Overall satisfaction	Connection reliability	Download speed	Upload speed	Customer service	Technical support	E-mail service	Spam blocking	Antivirus/security
Verizon	Fiber	Above Average	Above Average	Above Average	Above Average	Above Average	Above Average	Above Average	Above Average	Above Average
Cablevision	Cable	Above Average	Above Average	Above Average	Above Average	Above Average	Above Average	Average	Average	Average
Cox	Cable	Above Average	Above Average	Above Average	Above Average	Above Average	Above Average	Average	Average	Average
Insight Cable	Cable	Above Average	Average	Above Average	Above Average	Average	Average	Average	Average	Average
EarthLink	Cable	Above Average	Average	Average	Average	Average	Average	Average	Above Average	Average
EarthLink	DSL	Average	Average	Average	Average	Average	Average	Above Average	Above Average	Average
AT&T Yahoo (formerly SBC Yahoo)	DSL	Average	Above Average	Below Average	Below Average	Average	Average	Average	Above Average	Above Average
Time Warner Cable (Road Runner)	Cable	Average	Above Average	Above Average	Above Average	Average	Average	Average	Below Average	Below Average
Verizon	DSL	Average	Above Average	Average	Average	Average	Average	Average	Average	Average
Comcast	Cable	Average	Average	Above Average	Above Average	Below Average	Below Average	Average	Below Average	Above Average
Qwest	DSL	Average	Average	Average	Average	Average	Average	Average	Average	Average
EarthLink	Dial-up	Average	Average	Below Average	Below Average	Average	Average	Average	Above Average	Average
BellSouth (now AT&T)	DSL	Average	Average	Average	Average	Average	Average	Average	Average	Below Average
MSN	1	Average	Below Average	Below Average	Below Average	Average	Average	Average	Average	Average
AOL	1	Below Average	Below Average	Below Average	Below Average	Below Average	Below Average	Average	Above Average	Average
Charter	Cable	Below Average	Below Average	Average	Average	Below Average	Below Average	Below Average	Below Average	Below Average
CHART NOTES: Services are ranked by total number of negative and positive ratings, and in the case of a tie, alphabetically. All ratings reflect survey respondents' satisfaction with the given aspect of service. Source: Survey of 6463 PC World readers and PCWorld.com visitors from April 26 to May 10, 2007. FOOTNOTE:1 Rating reflects more than one connection type. We received insufficient responses to rate this ISP's connection offerings separately.