Best and worst UK streets for broadband revealed

The best and worst streets in the UK for broadband supply have been revealed by a new survey.

According to research conducted by price comparison website uSwitch.com, Williamson Road in Romney Marsh, Kent, has the slowest average speeds of anywhere in the country.

Meanwhile, the fastest speeds are to be found in Sandy Lane in Cannock, Staffordshire. Perhaps surprisingly, the north of England was shown by the results to have twice as many speedy streets as the south of the nation.

Ewan Taylor-Gibson, broadband expert at uSwitch.com, explained that on the UK's slowest broadband speeds it would be faster to fly to and from the Bahamas than it would be to download a film.

He said: "A recent House of Lords report called for broadband to be defined as a public utility and voiced concerns about the delivery of superfast services. Terrible speeds can isolate people and take their toll on businesses, schools, even house prices. A nationwide rollout of fibre broadband to the furthest and most remote corners of the UK has never been more urgent."

Businesses without fast and reliable connections to the internet may find they are left behind by rivals who can better take advantage of digital trends such as ecommerce.

Mr Taylor-Gibson explained that being far away from the nearest broadband exchange is one of the typical reasons for slow speeds, while even the thickness of walls can impact connections.

He said: "Superfast broadband is now available to more than three-quarters of the UK, but nearly a third (31 per cent) don't realise they can get it."

However, the research found that more than a fifth (22 per cent) of broadband users are now getting average speeds of 30+Mbps.

A government voucher scheme to help companies to upgrade their business broadband connections was recently extended in order to allow more organisations to take advantage.

Businesses looking to move services into the cloud, should evaluate the performance of their existing network and consider setting up a leased line or MPLS network.