You can also view broadband coverage maps for the entire nation or your specific area and filter them by specific technology such as XDSL, wireless, fiber, and others. Complete data is also available as short reports such as a ranking of different states by their average broadband speeds. You can view rankings by geographical locations and on various metrics such as speed, technology and number of providers.

The website is not super user-friendly when it comes to navigation but is a very useful resource to know anything and everything about broadband coverage.

Features:

• Browse data and maps for broadband coverage.
• See maps by type of broadband technology and area.
• See rankings of states and counties for speed, technology and providers.
• See statistics about a specific community and share results.

Visit NationalBroadbandMap @ www.broadbandmap.gov [Via Mashable]

The map can also be played like a slideshow, displaying the expansion of the Internet in the world year after year from 1998 to 2010. Straight yellow lines between continents represent submarine cables that are today a backbone of major Internet networks and how they have grown over the years. You can also choose to hide the number of people or submarine cables or both from the map.

Features:

• See world Internet growth on an interactive map.
• View state of internet works between 1998 and 2010.
• View network of submarine cables.
• No registration required.
• Similar tools: CableMap, Ookla Net Index, Google Internet Stats and InternetWorldStats.

Visit NetworkMaps @ www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-11864350 [Via Techie-Buzz]

As you would expect with any Google product, the design of the book really stands out. The pages turn like they do in a real book, and there’s a cool bookmark tag too to help you mark a page for reading later.

Features

• An online book by the Google Chrome team explaining browsers and the internet
• Great design, makes reading fun
• Built on HTML5, illustrations by Christoph Niemann

Check out 20 Things I Learned About Browsers and the Web@ www.20thingsilearned.com (via GT Cool Stuff )

If you are interested in knowing about the paths of theses cables, pay a visit to underwater internet cable map “Greg’s Cable Map”.

Greg’s Cable Map is a free to use website that shows the location of undersea data cables. You can hover your mouse over any cable and a white box at the map’s bottom will reveal the cables details. These details include the cable’s name, length, and data rate. You can click on a cable to highlight it and a white box at the right will reveal links where more information on the cable can be found.

The map can be changed from Aerial to Road view; this will help you identify the roads on the map.

The option to view the maps in 3D is also available but for that you need to download a file from the site first. To view the maps in 3D, simply click on the 3D option located in the top left.

Features:

• Undersea internet cable map online.
• Lets you view details about undersea data cables.
• Includes the names of data cables, their length, and their data rates.
• Provides links for additional information on the cables.
• The map can be viewed in different ways.

Check out Greg’s Cable Map @ www.cablemap.info (by MOin from ThumbPress)

Ookla Net Index provides a simple way to check which ISP is providing the best service in terms of overall download and upload speeds. When you visit the site, click on the link stating “Go to my location”. This will trace your IP address to your geographical area and display a summary of the nearby tests conducted.

The tests analyzed are the ones carried out on Speedtest. You will be shown the average download and upload speeds along with the quality factor of the ISPs in your area. You can scroll down to view the local ISP rankings based on the actual speed and quality factor they are delivering to users.

Features:

• Helps you find the best isp for your area.
• The tool ranks local ISPs based on real speed tests.
• A graph-like representation of your area’s average upload and download speeds is shown.
• The average quality factor is also displayed.
• The graph representations are shown for each ISP.
• Can be a great help in deciding which ISP to go for.
• Similar tools: Speed.io, PingTest and BandwidthPlace.

Check out “Ookla Net Index” @ www.netindex.com

Featured:

• Check web statistics across different sectors.
• Simple and interesting stats in just 2-3 lines.
• Data sourced from a huge number of media vendors.
• Search the stats and also submit a stat.
• Similar sites: InternetWorldStats.

Check out Google Internet Stats @ www.google.co.uk/intl/en/landing/internetstats/ (by Abhijeet from Appscrazy)

To get it running, go to the website and launch the Java applet within your browser to start the analysis.

Features:

• Check your internet connection for various common problems.
• View findings in a detailed report.
• Non need to download or install anything, runs in you browser.
• No registration or email required.

Check out Netalyzr @ http://netalyzr.icsi.berkeley.edu

InternetWorldStats is a free resource that lets you find out internet usage statistics for different geographical regions and countries, including penetration rates, total users and recent user growth, on charts and tables.

You may explore different region on the globe and get detailed statistics for every country in the region. Furthermore, there is an option to compare each country’s stats (usage rates, growth) with its region and world averages.

Features:

• View worldwide Internet internet usage by country.
• View Internet penetration rates, total users and growth rate for different geographical regions (Europe, Middle East, Africa etc) and countries.
• Browse detailed statistics for every single country and compare it against others.
• The statistics data comes from various reliable sources including Nielsen Online, International Telecommunications Union, US Census Bureau and other sources.

Check out InternetWorldStats @ www.internetworldstats.com