Ookla published a WISP Report Card in November that looks at the speed performance of eight large WISPs – Etheric Networks, GeoLinks, NextLink, Resound Networks, Rise Broadband, Starry, Unwired Broadband, and Wisper Internet. Since this article was published, Starry has been acquired by Verizon. Ookla trended speed test results for each WISP by quarter from Q1 2021 through Q2 2025.
The results of the speed tests for most WISPs were not spectacular. The best performing WISP was Starry, with 67% of customers achieving a speed that meets the FCC definition of broadband of 100/20 Mbps. Rise Broadband performed the worst, with only 6.7% of customers achieving 100/20 Mbps speeds. However, speed isn’t always a fair metric since some of the WISPs sell products with lower speed thresholds. For example, GeoLinks says its most popular product is 30/30 Mbps.
It’s also hard to compare the biggest WISPs because they have different business plans and use different spectrum. For example, Starry uses the 37.1, 37.3, and 37.5 GHz bands of millimeter wave spectrum, mostly serves apartment buildings, and places base stations within a mile of customers. Most of the other WISPs are more traditional rural WISPs using a mix of unlicensed and licensed spectrum. Following is a short summary of each of the eight WISPs.
Etheric Networks. 8.4% of customers achieve 100/20 Mbps. Median speeds are 41/30 Mbps. The company used traditional unlicensed spectrum. The company markets speeds from up to 100 Mbps to up to 1 Gbps.
GeoLinks. 8.7% of customers achieve 100/20 Mbps. Median speeds are 23/20 Mbps. The company uses a combination of LMDS, unlicensed 5 GHz, and millimeter wave spectrum. Marketed plans range from 10/10 to 100/25 Mbps.
NextLink. 24.4% of customers achieve speeds of 100/20 Mbps. Median speeds are 68/18 Mbps. The company purchased 1,100 CBRS PALs licenses. The company markets speeds between 50 and 500 Mbps. The company is midway through network upgrades funded by RDOF, so speeds should increase significantly.
Resound Networks. 41.5% of customers achieve speeds of 100/20 Mbps. Median speeds are 99/31 Mbps. The company uses unlicensed 5 GHz and 6 GHz spectrum. The company offers speed packages between 75 Mbps and 1 gigabit.
Rise Broadband. 6.7% of customers achieve speeds of 100/20 Mbps. Median speeds are 43/18 Mbps. The company uses a combination of unlicensed spectrum and CBRS. Speed packages range from 50 to 400 Mbps. The company claims to be the largest WISP with 200,000 customers.
Starry. 66.9% of customers achieve 100/20 Mbps. Median speeds are 202/54 Mbps. Starry uses millimeter wave spectrum to reach apartment buildings in five major metropolitan markets. The company markets speeds between 200 Mbps and 1 Gbps. Speeds have nearly doubled since 2021.
Unwired Broadband 21.8% of customers achieve a speed of 100/20 Mbps. Median speeds are 50/17 Mbps. The company uses a combination of licensed and unlicensed spectrum. Pricing plans start at 100 Mbps.
Wisper Internet. 26.0% of customers achieve a speed of 100/20 Mbps. Median speeds are 53/12 Mbps. The company uses unlicensed 5 GHz and a mix of licensed and unlicensed 2.5 GHz and CBRS spectrum. Speed plans range from 25 to 400 Mbps.
A few things to observe about the group. The article points out that rural WISPs are seeing serious speed competition from Starlink, which will intensify when Starlink starts launching its next generation of satellites in 2026. Some of the WISPs have improved speeds significantly since 2021, although a few have not. Some of the WISPs are doing upgrades to much faster radios and it will be interesting to see a future article showing speed trends in a few years. Like with satellite broadband, the overall weakness of most of the WISPs today is the upload speeds.
You ever wonder what would happen in the US if there was as much scrutiny put on the Utilities as there was on ISP’s? We have a fantastic working business model in our area with our ISP. 100% satisfaction from our subscribers, almost zero complaints and all related to temporary failures that are fixed in good time. I would estimate 90% of our total spend on network improvements each year is to fight government subsidized competition, totally unrelated to realistic demand from people living actual real lives.
Yet I’m here in California paying $0.50 a kWh because there is absolutely zero other option. There is one government sponsored monopoly for a utility in our area. My total energy bill for an 1,800 sq foot house averages around $760 / month all year, including electricity, propane, and firewood. And there is absolutely nothing getting done about that. But the services I sell are demanded to be as low dollar as possible. Where is the $42B from Uncle Sam to help with my power bill…?
That’s an interesting observation. There was a huge amount of scrutiny about electric utilities in the 1930s – 1950s when a lot of the rural areas still didn’t have power. There is suddenly a lot of scrutiny on utilities due to way they are making sweetheart deals with data centers. But overall, it’s an industry that’s been around for 140+ years and is largely so not newsworthy that nobody gives them the scrutiny they probably deserve.
Well I appreciate any level of awareness put on the utilities. It’s absolutely savage. My energy bill at my house is larger than my rent, much larger than a car payment, and it’s insane. Places that get ice and -20°F weather have power at <$0.20 a kWh and out here in California where the worst weather we get is too much sunshine we're paying half a buck. Everybody says "get solar". I rent, so that makes it more difficult. Plus why, why should we be required to splatter solar all over our properties, manage 2 sets of power systems, when we have a perfectly sustainable power production from hydro-electric dams? If us ISPs were allowed the same amount of bloat I'd be selling 10 Mbps for $500.00 a month.
That same ‘transparency’ rules being pushed on ISPs, where is matters far far less, and simply not applied to power companies.
We see various numbers on our electric bills and none of them add up to the price we pay. It’s gobs of what would be considered junk fees if it were cable tv or internet services. quoting something like $0.11/kw but practically it’s $0.17. Obviously much much worse in California where they say it’s something like $0.30-$0.34 but in practice it’s $0.49. Makes a customer believe they’re using more and that’s why their bill is high but the reality is that they’ve been duped with false ‘low’ prices and junk fees on the back end that are often 50% higher.
MANY industries are like this but only internet access is being scrutinized to this degree.
Also, I know I sound like a broken record, but 75% of our customer base was on a 25×10 service. In December we upgraded that to a 50×50. Every single home we tested at can achieve the speed. Our usage charts moved exactly 0.0%
This whole “broadband is 100×20” is just a game. It’s a number pulled out of a hat by someone who has zero understanding for the needs of real people. If this industry was set free from all the stupidity it would work exceptionally well and we could focus on things like lowering electricity costs and feeding the hungry. Keeping up with the 10% heavy users in an ISP network is very easy. You deploy next gen tech on your towers along side your older gen. Move the 10% to that and over the next 5-8 years you migrate the other 90% there in a totally affordable operation. Doesn’t require a dime of tax payer money. And if you are too greedy to move with the times your ratings plummet and your competition eats you. We are so so far from that right now. We’re all playing a whack-a-mole game with the government introduced mayhem.