Navigating the Map
The map automatically defaults to download speed results. To view the download speeds of a county, hover over the county you would like to gather additional information on, then click on the county you want to see. The results will then be displayed on the right.
The counties are color coded. White means PC Matic is not used in that county, therefore accurate data could not be obtained. Shades of red show the slowest speeds, shades of orange are mediocre, and shades of green display where the fastest speeds can be found.
To view upload speeds, click the “View Upload” button.
Accumulating the Data
PC Matic advertises its home-computer security product, PC Matic, nationwide. Because of this, PC Matic is able to aquire data throughout 98.9% of the United States.
The data on this map was obtained through the PC Matic scanning process. When a PC Matic scan is completed, different benchmarks are collected. One of these benchmarks is the internet download and upload speeds.
The bandwidth data was collected for the past 18 months, through 14 million scans. It was then categorized by county and internet service provider (ISP). The different ISP data was calculated to provide an overall county average. Then, the county was color coded based on the average download and upload speed. Red being the worst, green being the best. Please understand, the county average is just that -- an average. The average does not mean customers do not get higher speeds. It does mean, for everyone who is getting a faster than average speed, there is a customer getting slower than average speeds.
The Plethora of Data
There are several fascinating components to the map, including the various ISPs listed. The ISP names are obtained through a third party database, where the ISP registers the IP address of their customers. Rural communities included satellite and cellphone ISPs. While larger communities, included hospital and university networks, and government entities such as the United States Department of Justice.
Not only can users pinpoint what ISPs are used in each area, but they can compare the download and upload speeds for each.