WISPs Dispute Speed Test Report

WASHINGTON, Nov. 19, 2025 – A Monday report from Ookla found that users on eight of the country’s largest wireless ISPs had experienced real speed increases in recent years. That might seem like good news, but WISPs are taking issue with the report.

The Ookla analysis of its speed test data highlighted that most of the providers analyzed still had a median download speed of less than the Federal Communications Commission benchmark of 100 megabits per second (Mbps). 

WISPs say the industry as a whole isn’t falling short of federal standards. There are about 2,000 WISPs according to their trade organization WISPA, with many being small, local companies.

“The average person would read your lede and come away with the idea that a majority of the WISP industry fails FCC benchmarks, which is patently wrong and certainly not supported by your data,” Mike Wendy, director of communications at WISPA, wrote in a LinkedIn post responding to Ookla Editorial Director Sue Marek.

The WISP argument is that rural customers tend to subscribe to cheaper, and thus slower, plans, even if the network is technically capable of providing more competitive speeds.

“This article accurately reflects demographics of the people we serve: we go into hard-to-serve, rural, and lower-income areas to provide folks with high-speed internet, even if they choose to subscribe to cheaper and more affordable plans,” Claude Aiken, chief strategy officer at Nextlink and former WISPA CEO, wrote on LinkedIn. “What this article does not reflect, is the capability of the overall network.”

Nextlink was one of the WISPs studied in the Ookla report. The report found Nextlink more than tripled its median wireless download speed since the first quarter of 2021, up to 68 Mbps in the second quarter of 2025. 

Marek defended her data as a good proxy for typical subscriber experience on the fixed wireless networks she analyzed. 

“The data used in my report is based upon real user experience (data collected by thousands Speedtests taken on these WISP networks),” she said in a LinkedIn post.

Wendy said in an email that “we know our customers are highly satisfied with their hometown ISPs. Speed is but one small factor in that choice.”

Nextlink deploying Tarana radios

Nextlink actually announced a new deployment of upgraded radios on Wednesday. The company said it covered 317,000 homes and businesses with new Tarana G2 equipment.

Tarana touts the recently unveiled G2 radios as providing speeds up to 6.4 Gbps, depending on the conditions, which is on par with gigabit plans offered with fiber and cable. For Nextlink, the companies highlighted a 9-mile tower link that was upped from 369 Mbps download to 950 Mbps.

Nextlink, along with some of the other ISPs in the Ookla report, received tentative funding under the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program, which requires speeds of at least 100 * 20 Mbps. Low-earth orbit satellite service, which Ooklas forecast would be competing more and more with WISPs for rural customers, has been a significant participant, in line for about 20 percent of BEAD locations to fixed wireless’s 11 percent.