Netflix Compares ISPs Based on Speeds to See Which is the Best

Netflix is putting its billions of hours data to good use and helping you figure out just how good your ISP truly is.

If you've ever wondered if you might receive better data speeds from another ISP, Netflix has the tool for you. Currently Netflix streams over a billion hours a month to its customers, and it decided it was time to put that information to good use.

The ISP Speed Index launched today and it catalogs a large number of carriers that Netflix's customers use and gives you an average of the speeds that been measured when accessing the Watch Instantly service. While some of the results may seem low, Netflix does explain that this has to do with the compression of the data, the equipment customers have in their homes and so on. Still, if you see one ISP offering double the speed of your current provider on average, chances are there is some truth to that.

What you'll find if – big shock – Google Fiber is the fastest around. Everyone else hovers in similar ranges to one another, but you can narrow it down to your country, provided Netflix has service there, just to see how you stack up. You can also look at data that ranges back to Nov. 2012 and this will be an ongoing project so you can see how things change over time.

The good news is that Netflix is using all of this data to also talk to ISPs to see how they can improve their service so that they rank better. Essentially this is almost like public humiliation for the companies. Nobody wants to be last in place, so why not work with Netflix to improve your standings?

Not every ISP is listed (mine is not, but I'm not overly surprised by that), so don't take this as the ultimate list of ISPs around the world.