A new report from Ookla says Fort Collins Connexion has the fastest upload speeds of any municipal broadband provider in the country. The finding comes from “Small Towns, Big Speeds: How Some Municipal Broadband Providers Outperform Their ISP Peers,” a 13-month speed analysis covering 14 of the largest publicly owned broadband networks in the United States.
Ookla measured Speedtest Intelligence data from December 2024 through December 2025, comparing each municipal provider against competing ISPs in its own market. Among all 14 networks studied, Connexion led in median upload speed, consistently delivering more than 300 Mbps for the entire study period.
What the Ookla Data Actually Shows
Ookla’s findings are specific, and the gap they reveal is significant. Connexion recorded a median upload speed of 246.96 Mbps as of December 2025. Xfinity, its primary competitor in Fort Collins, recorded 98.85 Mbps that same month.
That’s a 2.5x advantage, and it’s not new. Xfinity’s upload speeds were as low as 28.16 Mbps at the start of the study period in December 2024, putting Connexion’s lead at more than 10 to 1 at that point. Even as Xfinity increased its upload performance substantially over the 13 months, it couldn’t close the gap.
Connexion also delivered multi-server latency consistently between 8 ms and 9 ms throughout the study, a measure of network responsiveness that affects everything from video calls to online gaming.
Why Upload Speed Matters More Than Most People Realize
Most internet shoppers focus on download speed, but upload and download speeds serve different functions. Download handles what comes to you: streaming, browsing, loading pages. Upload handles what you send out, including video calls, file sharing, backing up photos, posting content, and remote desktop sessions.
For households with remote workers, creators, or students uploading large files, upload speed is the number that determines whether the connection feels responsive or constantly bottlenecked. Xfinity’s low upload speeds are a direct result of the technology it runs on. Cable networks were built primarily for downloading content, and that asymmetry is built into their infrastructure. Fiber networks like Connexion are symmetric by design, meaning upload and download capacity are built to the same standard.
Why Fiber Beats Cable on Upload Speed
Fiber and cable internet use fundamentally different physical infrastructure. Cable runs on coaxial lines originally designed to deliver television signals, and those lines share bandwidth among neighbors in the same neighborhood segment. Fiber transmits data as pulses of light over glass strands, with dedicated capacity per customer and no shared-bandwidth congestion.
Ookla’s editorial team noted in the report that the upload advantage seen across municipal providers is largely explained by their reliance on fiber. The report found that eight of the 14 municipal networks studied beat their local competitors in median upload speed, and the common thread was fiber architecture. Cable providers can improve upload speeds at the margins, as Xfinity demonstrated over the study period, but they’re working around the physical limits of legacy infrastructure.
Independent Validation from a Source That Doesn’t Work for Connexion
Ookla doesn’t have a stake in how Connexion performs. The company measures speed tests from actual customers on actual connections, and its methodology is the industry standard for ISP performance analysis. That’s what separates this finding from marketing claims: the data comes from the users, not the provider.
The report was also covered independently by Telecompetitor, TelecomLead, and the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, three outlets that cover the broadband industry and municipal networks without any affiliation to Connexion. Their coverage reached national audiences of broadband industry professionals, policy researchers, and community advocates. The Ookla finding follows Connexion’s placement on PCMag’s Best ISPs list for 2024, adding to a pattern of third-party recognition the network has earned since launch.
What This Means for Fort Collins Residents
The Ookla report evaluated 14 of the largest municipal networks across the country. Connexion led them all on upload speed, not for a single month, but for every month of the 13-month study. That’s not a snapshot. It’s a consistent performance record across a full year.
For Fort Collins residents still on a cable connection, or anyone comparing options before switching, the gap in upload performance is measurable and meaningful. The same internet connection that handles video calls smoothly also supports faster cloud backups, clearer video uploads, and more responsive smart home devices. As households run more devices simultaneously, that foundation matters.
Connexion is a municipal utility, which means the network exists to serve Fort Collins, not to generate returns for outside investors. The Ookla report confirms that structure is producing results.
Read the full Ookla “Small Towns, Big Speeds” report for the complete data set and methodology.
Ready to experience Connexion’s speeds for yourself? Compare residential internet plans today.
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