WASHINGTON — Four out of five users of high-speed Internet in the United States don’t know how fast their connections are, according to a survey released Tuesday by the Federal Communications Commission.
To help resolve that problem, the agency said it was seeking 10,000 volunteers who would have special hardware installed at home to measure the speed of their broadband Internet service as part of a nationwide, scientific study of the performance of major providers. The hardware will measure specific speed information as well, such as for video downloads and Internet phone calling.
“Speed matters,” FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said. “The more broadband subscribers know about what speeds they need and what speeds they get, the more they can make the market work and push faster speeds over broadband networks.”
People interested in volunteering for the study can apply at . It will be conducted by SamKnows Ltd., which conducted a similar study in the United Kingdom.
