Where is My Broadband Connection?

Over the past few months and quarters the notion of where my broadband connection resides has shifted...... at least for me. A few short months ago, I would have told you that my broadband provider was Comcast, as that was who provided internet access to my home.

A few short months later, I am not so sure. A few months ago, I bought one of those funky new Android smart phones on Sprint's 4G network. I am now seeing download speeds of 3-6 mbps that exceeded my basic Comcast cable connection that was coming in around 3 mbps.

What is more interesting to me is the Android comes with me wherever I go. Whether I am at the lake, work, the store or the coffee shop - my internet is there with me. On occasion, my wife will ask me to turn on the "hot spot" so she can connect in with her iPad.

To see what was going on with wireless internet versus traditional broadband, we turned to Broadband Scout and looked at what was going on in the Twin Cities 7 country metro. Specifically, we looked at all of the major providers and analyzed the trends or changes that have occurred over the past few quarters. What we found was that internet transactions through a wireless device increased by a factor of over 200%, whereas Cable and DSL diminished by a few percentage points.

These trends and others can be seen below on our interactive map. Feel free to select various types of broadband providers or the providers themselves to see what is going on in the Twin Cities area.

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