← Back to the diagnostic Address diagnostic · Compare

Pick two places.
Read them honestly.

A real address lookup - type your address, see what's actually available versus what each provider claims - needs a live query against the Broadband Data Collection, which isn't wired into this static build. So this is an example gallery: pick any two of five location archetypes and read them on the same four axes - providers filed, best technology, advertised vs measured download, and whether they clear the 100 / 20 Mbps benchmark.

Illustrative archetypes

These five are archetypes, not real addresses or provider filings - each dramatizes a documented single-provider pattern. The advertised-vs-measured dumbbell uses one shared 0 - 300 Mbps scale across both panels, so the dot positions themselves are the comparison. When the real feed is wired in, providers, best technology, and 100/20 availability come from the FCC Broadband Data Collection; the measured dot and latency come from the FCC's separate Measuring Broadband America program (the only source for measured, not advertised, throughput). See Methodology.

Choose a location for each panel

Panel A

A ranching county in the Mountain West

Interior West
Providers filed 1 Monopoly market
Best technology Geostationary satellite
Advertised vs measured download large gap
advertised 100 measured ≈35 latency 600 - 750 ms
Clears the 100 / 20 benchmark? Below 100 / 20

Upload files at 3 Mbps - far under the 20 the benchmark requires - and a 600 ms+ round-trip makes calls unusable regardless of the download tier.

Terrestrial providers file the county as “served” from a tower miles away. The only line you can actually order is a satellite dish with a 600 ms round-trip.

A Mississippi Delta parish

Deep South
Providers filed 1 Monopoly market
Best technology Cable (DOCSIS)
Advertised vs measured download small gap
advertised 300 measured ≈225 latency 20 - 45 ms
Clears the 100 / 20 benchmark? Yes, on paper

Clears 100/20 on paper - but a single cable incumbent holds the footprint, so the advertised price is simply the price, with no competitor to undercut it.

A single cable company holds the whole footprint. No competitor files here, so the advertised price is simply whatever the incumbent lists.

An Appalachian hollow

Central Appalachia
Providers filed 1 Monopoly market
Best technology DSL (copper)
Advertised vs measured download large gap
advertised 25 measured ≈8 latency 40 - 90 ms
Clears the 100 / 20 benchmark? Below 100 / 20

Advertised at 25/3, it was never a 100/20 line - and on a copper loop this long it syncs at a fraction of even that.

The map shows 25 Mbps DSL. On a copper loop this long the line syncs at a fraction of that - but it still counts as covered.

A high-desert Tribal community

Southwest
Providers filed 1 Monopoly market
Best technology Fixed wireless
Advertised vs measured download moderate gap
advertised 100 measured ≈30 latency 30 - 80 ms
Clears the 100 / 20 benchmark? Below 100 / 20

Filed at 100/20, but the rated speed needs a clear line-of-sight to a distant tower; where terrain blocks it, the household is counted served and gets nothing.

Service depends on an unobstructed path to a distant tower. Where terrain blocks it, the household is counted served and gets nothing.

An exurban new-build subdivision

Sun Belt fringe
Providers filed 1 Monopoly market
Best technology Fiber (FTTP)
Advertised vs measured download minimal gap
advertised 300 measured ≈300 latency 5 - 15 ms
Clears the 100 / 20 benchmark? Yes, on paper

The speed is real - once it is installed. It sits on the map at fiber speeds today with a months-long install backlog, so “available” and “buyable” are different dates.

The developer wired a single provider. It sits on the map at gigabit - with a months-long install backlog.

Panel B

A ranching county in the Mountain West

Interior West
Providers filed 1 Monopoly market
Best technology Geostationary satellite
Advertised vs measured download large gap
advertised 100 measured ≈35 latency 600 - 750 ms
Clears the 100 / 20 benchmark? Below 100 / 20

Upload files at 3 Mbps - far under the 20 the benchmark requires - and a 600 ms+ round-trip makes calls unusable regardless of the download tier.

Terrestrial providers file the county as “served” from a tower miles away. The only line you can actually order is a satellite dish with a 600 ms round-trip.

A Mississippi Delta parish

Deep South
Providers filed 1 Monopoly market
Best technology Cable (DOCSIS)
Advertised vs measured download small gap
advertised 300 measured ≈225 latency 20 - 45 ms
Clears the 100 / 20 benchmark? Yes, on paper

Clears 100/20 on paper - but a single cable incumbent holds the footprint, so the advertised price is simply the price, with no competitor to undercut it.

A single cable company holds the whole footprint. No competitor files here, so the advertised price is simply whatever the incumbent lists.

An Appalachian hollow

Central Appalachia
Providers filed 1 Monopoly market
Best technology DSL (copper)
Advertised vs measured download large gap
advertised 25 measured ≈8 latency 40 - 90 ms
Clears the 100 / 20 benchmark? Below 100 / 20

Advertised at 25/3, it was never a 100/20 line - and on a copper loop this long it syncs at a fraction of even that.

The map shows 25 Mbps DSL. On a copper loop this long the line syncs at a fraction of that - but it still counts as covered.

A high-desert Tribal community

Southwest
Providers filed 1 Monopoly market
Best technology Fixed wireless
Advertised vs measured download moderate gap
advertised 100 measured ≈30 latency 30 - 80 ms
Clears the 100 / 20 benchmark? Below 100 / 20

Filed at 100/20, but the rated speed needs a clear line-of-sight to a distant tower; where terrain blocks it, the household is counted served and gets nothing.

Service depends on an unobstructed path to a distant tower. Where terrain blocks it, the household is counted served and gets nothing.

An exurban new-build subdivision

Sun Belt fringe
Providers filed 1 Monopoly market
Best technology Fiber (FTTP)
Advertised vs measured download minimal gap
advertised 300 measured ≈300 latency 5 - 15 ms
Clears the 100 / 20 benchmark? Yes, on paper

The speed is real - once it is installed. It sits on the map at fiber speeds today with a months-long install backlog, so “available” and “buyable” are different dates.

The developer wired a single provider. It sits on the map at gigabit - with a months-long install backlog.

Advertised (the claim) Measured (what arrives) 100 / 20 benchmark tick

Every archetype dramatizes a documented pattern from the 83M Americans with one wired provider or none (Institute for Local Self-Reliance, 2020). None is a real address; the measured dots model documented technology behavior, not a per-provider measurement. The live picker and real provider filings wire up when the BDC + Measuring Broadband America feeds are connected - the components read the same compare_set shape unchanged.