The Best and Worst Broadband in Britain

In some parts of the UK, households suffer broadband speeds that can be as much as 135 times slower than the fastest speeds in the country, according to uSwitch.

The average broadband speed on Williamson Road, Romney Marsh, Kent is a terrible 0.535Mbps. This means that it would take about 19 hours to download a two-hour HD film, and 49 minutes for a 20-song music album, uSwitch’s research found.

The complete opposite is found on Sandy Lane, Cannock, Staffordshire, where speeds are 135 times faster, and are an average of 72.86Mbps. Downloading the same film here would take just eight minutes, and only 22 seconds for the same album.

The study revealed a wide gap between broadband speeds around the UK. A third of the country still struggles with speeds less than 5Mbps, and 23% are even on less than 3Mbps.

Broadband speed can be affected by: The user’s distance from the nearest exchange; the broadband provider; and sometimes the property itself, such as thick walls.

The fastest and slowest speeds are spread all around the UK, however, the north of England sees twice as many quick streets as the south, found the survey of the 30 fastest and slowest streets.

Speeds can often vary massively within the same county. Three of the fastest streets are in Staffordshire, but as are two of the slowest. In another county, the average download speed on Cheadle Road, Alton, Stoke-on-Trent is 54 times slower than on Werrington Road, Bucknall.

The findings are based on over one million speed tests run by broadband users in the last six months.

Some households may be able to put up with slow speeds, but it can be a huge problem for small businesses. Broadband issues affect half of all small businesses in rural areas, another study found.

The Federation of Small Business revealed that 49% of rural small firms are not satisfied with the quality of their broadband, compared with 28% in cities.¹

However, the number of people experiencing superfast broadband is growing. Over a fifth of broadband users now get average speeds of over 30Mbps, a rise from 15% only a year ago.

UK Streets with the Fastest Broadband Speeds¹

Broadband Expert at uSwitch, Ewan Taylor-Gibson, comments: “The UK’s slowest street broadband speeds are so sluggish you could fly to the Bahamas and back again in the time it takes to download a film.

“Likely causes include the user’s distance from the nearest exchange or issues within the properties themselves. Wireless connections can be affected by the thickness of walls, for example, but your broadband provider can usually offer a solution if that’s the case.”

He says that bad speeds can make people feel isolated, have an affect on businesses and schools, and even affect house prices.

He adds: “A nationwide rollout of fibre broadband to the furthest and most remote corners of the UK has never been more urgent.”¹

UK Streets with the Slowest Broadband Speeds¹

¹ http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/bills/article-2989700/Britain-s-best-worst-streets-broadband-speed-revealed.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter