Revealed: The fastest and slowest streets for broadband in Britain

Llys Tripp, Gwaelod-y-Garth, Cardiff; Seymour Avenue in Morden, south London; South Park Crescent, Lewisham, south-east London; Brant Road in Lincoln; and Berriedale in north-east Scotland completed the slowest street list, none of which clocked higher than 0.40Mbps.

Second on the fastest street list was Grange Road in Ilford – with an average speed of 877Mbps – followed by Dalesgate Close in Derby; West Gate in Fleetwood, Lancashire; and Douglas Bader Drive, Lutterworth, Leicestershire.

Billingbauk Drive in Leeds; Old Ballynahinch Road, Lisburn, Northern Ireland; Hall Road East in Liverpool; Valley Road, Newbury, Berkshire; and Dale Lane Approach in Warrington, Cheshire, completed the fastest street top 10, with all 10 recording average speeds of 699Mbps or higher.

According to Uswitch, the number of broadband users accessing faster speeds is growing, with 43% of users getting superfast speeds of at least 30Mbps, compared to just 22% six years ago, but the firm urged residents to check their local broadband speed availability as many could be eligible for an upgrade.

‘Britain’s broadband keeps getting quicker every year, but parts of the country continue to be left behind,’ Uswitch broadband expert Ernest Doku said.

‘At a time when so many of us rely on our broadband for work, streaming films and TV, and gaming, it’s hard to imagine how frustrating such a slow connection must be.

‘It’s great to witness the increased uptake of ultrafast broadband, but we don’t want to see large swathes of the country left behind on shoddy connections that aren’t cutting it for modern life.

‘Initiatives like the Universal Service Obligation and Project Gigabit are helping improve connections at both ends of the spectrum, but there is a lot more to be done so consumers don’t get left behind.

‘Of the 10 slowest streets, nine could have access to faster broadband, so we urge residents there – and anyone else unhappy with their broadband speeds – to do a quick search online to see what speeds they could be getting with another provider.’

An Ofcom spokesperson said: ‘This survey highlights an important point: if people are getting low broadband speeds, it isn’t usually because fast connections are not available.

‘Crewe is actually well covered by superfast broadband – including Wistaston Road. So we always recommend speaking to your provider to check you’re on the fastest connection and the best deal.’

The findings came from analysis of 276,083 speed tests run by broadband users over the last year.

The number of speed tests is up 124% on 2019’s tally of 122,845, with the dramatic rise suggesting Brits have been paying closer attention to the performance of their home broadband since the start of the pandemic.