Internet Speed Growth Rate

By Xah Lee. Date: . Last updated: .

Since 1990, hard disk storage capacity doubles in about every 1 year, computing speed doubles by about every 2 years. What about internet speed?

How Fast Net Speed Grow?

It's about 50% faster per year.

The formula is c*1.5^n where n is number of years, and c is a constant.

Assuming in 1990 it's 1.2 kbits/s. We have:

internet speed growth
Internet speed growth. Table[{1990 + x, 1.2*1.5^x}, {x, 0, 22}]
theoretical speed
yearkbits/s
1990 1.2
1992 2.7
1994 6.1
1996 13.7
1998 30.8
2000 69.2
2002 155.7
2004 350.3
2006 788.2
2008 1773.5
2010 3990.3
2012 8978.2
2014 20200.9
2016 45452.1
2018 102267.0
2020 230101.0

Here's my internet connection speed history:

actual speed
YearSpeed download•upload•pingConnection Type
19911.2kbps••Modem 1200 (V.22)
199756kbps••56k modem
1998800kbps••Innetix wireless, San Jose (at Brainpower)
1999280kbps••alink.net ISDN, Mountain View (at Weborder)
2002880kbps•137•Pacfic Bell ADSL, Palo Alto (home)
2003800kbps•240.1•Cable modem 802.11b wireless, Sacramento (Paul K)
2003980kbps•112•library, wireless, Palo Alto
2006980kbps••DSL, Mountain View (Danny's)
20085.2Mbps••Cable, Camcast, Mountain View
2009-098.4Mbps•4.6Mbps•17msCable, Comcast, Mountain View
2010-077.0Mbps•3.9Mbps•27msCable, Comcast, Mountain View
2012-049.8Mbps•4.2Mbps•15msCable, Comcast, Mountain View
201322Mbps•Cable, Comcast, Mountain View
201426Mbps••17msCable, Comcast, Mountain View
2017-0628Mbps•4.6Mbps•30msAT＆T internet
2019-0826Mbps•4.4Mbps•25msAT＆T internet
internet speed 71120 2014-02-16
my internet speed, as of 2014-02-16
xah lee web speed 2015-07-30
my internet speed, as of
internet speed xah 2017-06 t9jg2
internet speed xah 2017-06-20
internet speed xah 2019-08-13 jm6p6
internet speed xah 2019-08-13

see also: Computer Devices Bandwidth Table

If you have a question, put $5 at patreon and message me.