Live in West Virginia? I'll Type Slower

No, I don't mean to offend the bright citizens of the great eastern Mountain State.

Instead, the title of this article is merely an observation of the horrible Internet speeds affecting the people of that state, and a few others, across the United States. In fact, a recent study has found that although America leads the world in many technological spheres, when it comes to Internet speed, it is drastically falling behind.

Over 80,000 U.S. Internet users took part in a survey performed by the Communications Workers of America union and Speed Matters website. In the end, the group found that certain states drag down the national average, which floats around a rather unimpressive 1.97 megabits.

A mountain of work ahead

The worst case was the aforementioned West Virginia, which "boasts" an average Internet speed far lower than the national average of 1.97 megabits. West Virginia residents crawl along the web at just 1.12 megabits.

Without putting the numbers into perspective, the .85 megabits sounds like a paltry difference. However, West Virginia politicians are very concerned. Low web speeds can be directly connected to steady business growth and development. Indeed, state Senator John Unger has said, "You can have all the nice roads and welcome signs you want, but if you don't have the infrastructure and the demand for high-speed Internet, we can't do business".

In the end, it could be worse: West Virginians could be surfing in Alaska. That state, perhaps unexpectedly, sits miles below the national average, with users plodding along at just .55 megabits. (Source: monstersandcritics.com)

So, who are the big winners? You might be surprised. Rhode Island and Kansas fill out the top two spots, boasting 5.01 and 4.17 megabit speeds, respectively. And yet, both are still miles behind Canada's average (7 Mbps) and world-leader, Japan (61 Mbps). (Source: seattlepi.nwsource.com)