Most wireless internet service providers (WISPs) in the U.S. are getting faster but aren’t fast enough to meet the federal definition of broadband, according to a new report from Ookla.

The report analyzed customer speed test data from eight of the nation’s 2,000 fixed wireless WISPs. It compared findings from 2001 to Q2 2025.

The Ookla report compared proprietary speed test data to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) standard of 100Mbps of download speed and 20 Mbps of upload speed (100/20 Mbps), updated in March 2024 from a 25/3 Mbps standard.

The study left out big telcos like Verizon, T-Mobile, and AT&T (which offer home internet service on mobile networks), but included the following:

• Etheric Networks
• GeoLinks
• NextLink Internet
• Resound Networks
• Rise Broadband
• Starry
• Unwired Broadband
• Wisper Internet

 

Starry Internet was the fastest provider in the study, reaching the 100/25 standard two-thirds of the time. The company owns mmWave spectrum licenses and uses proprietary equipment. It declared bankruptcy in 2023 but is in the process of being acquired by Verizon.

Most other WISPs in the report rely on unlicensed spectrum and commercial off-the-shelf hardware to provide internet service to customers, but some use licensed and unlicensed high-band spectrum and mid-band spectrum.

In comparison, a recent report about low-earth orbit satellite internet provider Starlink found median download speeds of 104.71 Mbps in Q1 2025. That was “on par or better than seven of the eight WISPs we reviewed,” according to the report.

The report comes just months after the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) made changes to the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program that made it more feasible for WISPs to receive infrastructure funding.

The new rules don’t favor fiber connections, but their performance standards still require download speeds of at least 100Mbps.