Internet speeds have been ramped up over the past four years as Americans demand faster download speeds for streaming video and apps that require heavy data loads.

The average download speed offered by an Internet Service Provider (ISP) has doubled to 72 Megabits per second in September 2014, up from 37.2 Mbps the year before, USAToday reports.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has published its fifth annual Measuring Broadband America Fixed Broadband report and has found that actual speeds have nearly tripled between 2011 and 2014 to 31 Mbps.

Cable companies have also advertised faster maximum download speeds. In 2011, the maximum speeds offered by cable companies were between 12-20 Mbps. Last year, the maximum speeds advertised by cable companies was 50-105 Mbps.

The FCC says that better technology has led to faster connections. With these fast connections, the FCC believes American lives will be more convenient.

The FCC found that most customers are getting the speeds that are advertised by their ISPs, and some are getting even faster speeds than advertised.

Cablevision, Comcast and Hughes were the best performing ISPs with more than 90 percent of their customers receiving the speeds they were promised. Cablevision had the highest average download speed of 50 Mbps, according to the report.

In the U.S., New Jersey (57 Mbps) and Connecticut (47 Mbps) had the fastest average download speeds. The lowest speeds in the country were located in Idaho, Ohio and Arkansas with an average speed of only 14 Mbps.

Customers with DSL (digital subscriber lines) are receiving speeds of 12 Mbps or less, while cable and fiber optic customers are receiving speeds of 25 Mbps or better.

Many customers, according to the FCC survey, upgraded from the base package that offered speeds between 15-30 Mbps, to a faster package that costs more per month.

Google and AT&T are bringing their fiber optic Internet service to more cities in 2016. These fiber optic connections offer speeds of up to 1,000 Mbps.