Bad news for the people of Morriston Close in Watford – newly crowned as the street with the UK’s slowest broadband.
Research by comparison website Broadband Genie has revealed the ten best and worst places to live for broadband – and also warned people not to ‘suffer in silence’.
On Morriston Close, where the average house price is £437,500, residents had to contend with average speeds of just 0.6Mb.
In comparison, the UK’s best street, Meadway, in Northampton, can download a movie almost 1,500 times faster, enjoying average speeds of 896.3Mb.
Ofcom recommends that homes are provided at least 10Mb, the minimum ‘decent’ speed – which would take around 13 minutes to download a typical 1Gb film.
Analysing the average speeds for 265,572 postcodes last year, Broadband Genie found the average speed is 122.2Mb.
Those falling far short of good service include Wade Court in Cheltenham, second on the list of worst streets with 1.2Mb, followed by Leazes Lane, Bishop Auckland, with 1.38Mb.
At the opposite end of the scale Rolvenden Grove in Milton Keynes claimed silver in the list of top speeds with 711.64Mb, followed by Colville Street in London on 626.61Mb.
In Scotland, Anne Arundel Court in Dumfries claimed the top spot with 453Mb. Ffordd Kinderley in Deeside claimed the crown in Wales with 384Mb and 470Mb earned Craigs Road in Carrickfergus the Northern Ireland title.
What does Mb mean?
Broadband speed is usually measured in Megabits per second (Mbps), often shortened to simply Mb. It can also be measured in kilobits per second and gigabits per second
1 Kbps: 1,000 bits per second
1 Mbps: 1,000,000 bits per second
1 Gbps: 1,000,000,000 bits per second
Basically, the higher the number of bits per second, the faster your broadband will work.
Source: Money Supermarket
For those suffering from award-losing internet rather than award-winning, Alex Tofts, broadband expert at Broadband Genie, said customers should not just accept their fate.
‘No customer should put up with sluggish broadband, especially in a year where we’ve had to endure record high mid-contract price rises,’ he said.
‘The Universal Service Obligation is in place to ensure everyone has access to what the Government deems “decent” broadband via a fixed connection.
Top 10 worst streets for broadband speed
Morriston Close, Watford 0.60Mb
Wade Court, Cheltenham 1.20Mb
Leazes Lane, Bishop Auckland 1.38Mb
Borstal Street, Rochester 1.39Mb
Rocks Lane, London 1.42Mb
Cefn Road, Bridgend 1.43Mb
Mersea Road, Colchester 1.53Mb
Hawthornvale, Edinburgh 1.57Mb
Hollin Drive, Wakefield 1.58Mb
Glebe Avenue, Braintree 1.70Mb
‘However, a significant number of people are still being left behind.
‘Our research highlights that residents of Britain’s slowest streets could be suffering in silence, as faster broadband is available to their homes.
Mr Toft recommended those with slow broadband explore other providers – speeds of up to 30Mb are available in all ten of the worst streets.
Top 10 best streets for broadband speed
Meadway, Northampton 896.30Mb
Rolvenden Grove, Milton Keynes 711.64Mb
Colville Street, London 626.61Mb
Nicholas Meadow, Callington 619.82Mb
North Road East, Wingate 608.80Mb
Chestnut Avenue, Chesham 603.90Mb
Town Street, Pudsey 594.04Mb
Amethyst Road, Christchurch 587.17Mb
Lumsdale Crescent, Matlock 583.73Mb
Ridge Green, Redhill 569.70Mb
‘If you haven’t reviewed your broadband contract in the last two years, it’s likely you can switch or renew to a faster deal at no extra cost,’ he said.
‘For the majority of switches, your new providers will do the legwork for you when switching your old connection over and isn’t as daunting as it seems.’
He also added that slow Wi-Fi may be due to factors other than the broadband provider, such as the location of the router or the number of devices on the network – but that if users cannot identify the issue themselves, to contact their provider.
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