The Slowest Streets in the UK 2024

Author: Alex Tofts

Last updated: 04 December 2024

Have you ever wondered which are the slowest streets in the UK? You’re in the right place! Broadband Genie analysed over 207,000 speed tests from up and down the country to bring you the answer.

You may be surprised that not all are located in the countryside. Some may be closer to your doorstep than you think. A significant number of people suffer with slow broadband and currently, there are 57,000 premises in the UK that can’t receive broadband speeds of at least 10Mb. This is what the Government considers a ‘decent’ broadband speed.

It’s not all doom and gloom, the country is moving in the right direction. Gigabit-capable broadband (1,000Mb+ or 1Gb+) is available to 80% of homes, and 62% of homes have access to full fibre broadband.

Will your street feature? Read on to find out.

The slowest street in the UK is Greenfields Road, Bishop Auckland

This year's wooden spoon for the slowest street goes to Greenfields Road, Bishop Auckland. The busy road on the outskirts of the Bishop Auckland, recorded an average broadband speed of 0.35Mb

To give you an idea what that would look like, it would take over 34 hours to download this year's box office hit, Inside Out 2.

Things may look gloomy for the residents of Greenfields Road, but some homes have access to fibre to the cabinet (FTTC) broadband capable of download speeds of 60Mb. 4G and 5G services are limited, but there is always Elon Musk's Starlink satellite broadband as a last resort.

The 10 slowest streets league table

The second and third-slowest streets in the UK are both found in urban areas. Collingdale Road, Northampton is second with a broadband of 0.47Mb and Southcote Farm Lane, Reading recorded average broadband speeds of 0.61Mb.

All 10 slowest streets in the UK failed to broadband speeds above 1Mb. But residents living on these streets don’t need to settle for sluggish broadband. All but Greenfields Road have access to Superfast broadband (minimum download speed of 30Mb).

Ultrafast (minimum download speed of 100Mb) is available in 8 out of 10 streets, only Greenfields Road and Water Lane in Ashwell, Oakham currently don’t have access to this technology.

If residents on Collingdale Road, Southcote Farm Lane, Birch Grove, Falmouth Close, Grosvenor Street and Turnberry Crescent are looking for something really quick, they have access to full fibre broadband. Capable of delivering broadband speeds of up to 1.6Gb.

The fastest street in the UK is Tynemouth Street, London

The fastest street can be found in the capital. Tynemouth Street in London recorded a broadband speed of 921.76Mb.

This is 2,634 times faster than Greenfields Road. In comparison, residents can download Disney’s Inside Out 2 in just 46 seconds.

The 10 fastest streets league table

Rolvenden Grove in Milton Keynes and Colville Street in London round out the top three at 711.6Mb and 626.6Mb, but Meadway in Northampton is in a league of its own.

How we got the results

We recorded and analysed over 207,000 speed tests from up and down the country to find the slowest streets from the UK, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and London.

For the full details on how we discovered the UK’s slowest streets. Please see the methodology at the bottom of this page.

The slowest and fastest streets in Scotland

Turnberry Crescent, Bridge of Don, Aberdeen is Scotland's slowest street. The street also ranked 10th in the UK’s slowest streets. Occupants received average broadband speeds of 0.90Mb. However, superfast, ultrafast and full fibre options are all available.

Gordon Street, Elgin is Scotland's fastest street, averaging broadband speeds of 678.73Mb.

Scotland's slowest streets league table

Scotland's fastest streets league table

The slowest and fastest streets in Wales

The slowest street in Wales is the B4570 which goes through the hamlet of Ponthirwaun, which is about a 12-minute drive from the town of Cardigan. Residents in Ponthirwaun received broadband speeds of 2.28Mb.

Unfortunately, if locals of Ponthirwaun are looking for a speed upgrade, they will have to look at a satellite broadband option. No fibre connection is available and 4G signal would fail to reach inside homes.

Chamberlain Row, Dinas Powys on the outskirts of Cardiff is Wales’ fastest street, where occupants averaged broadband speeds of 735.81Mb.

Wales’ slowest streets league table

Wales’ fastest streets league table

The slowest and fastest streets in Northern Ireland

The slowest street in Northern Ireland is Orkney Street, Antrim, residents averaged broadband speeds of 3.90Mb. But locals don’t need to suffer in silence, broadband options all the way up to and including full fibre are available on their doorstep.

Moatview Park, Dundonald, Belfast is Northern Ireland's fastest street. Residents received a broadband speed of 794.34Mb, which also places the street 5th in the UK’s fastest streets. 

Northern Ireland’s slowest streets league table

Northern Ireland’s fastest streets league table

The slowest and fastest streets in London

You would think, the UK’s capital’s slowest streets would be far above the rest of the UK. However, Barrowgate Road, averaged broadband speeds of 0.67Mb. This also places it 5th overall in the UK. Fibre options are available and homeowners and renters can upgrade to a broadband connection capable of 1.1Gb download speeds through Virgin Media.

We already know, Tynemouth Street is London’s fastest street, as it’s the UK’s fastest. If you head south, 9 miles away is London’s second-fastest street; Bloxworth Close, Wallington. Occupants received broadband speeds of 910.10Mb.

London’s slowest street league table

London’s fastest street league table

How fast is your broadband?

To see how fast your broadband is, test your connection using our broadband speed test. For the most accurate results, use Ethernet cables to connect your laptop or computer to your router.

If you’re using your smartphone or don’t have Ethernet cables, follow these steps to get the best reading.

1. Close all programs running on your computer, games running on your consoles, or apps on your mobile phone. Don’t forget to check Netflix isn’t running on your TV.
2. Shut everything off. Disconnect or switch off any other Wi-Fi enabled devices in your home. Don’t forget any Smart appliances you might have, such as freezers or washing machines.
3. Stand close to your router and avoid connecting to Wi-Fi boosters if you use them
4. Do more than one test. Collect the speed test results at different times of the day, including peak times.

How to improve broadband speed

After you run a speed test, check how your current performance compares to what you signed up for on your broadband contract. If it’s within your contract speed guarantee, and you still want faster broadband, you will have to upgrade to a fibre broadband contract.

If your broadband is lagging behind what you're paying for, follow these steps to help improve the connection:

1. Router position and placement. Place your router as close as you can to the middle of your home, away from walls and other electrical devices. For more details, check out our guide on the best place to put a router.
2. Switch frequencies. Modern routers will have a 2.4Ghz and a 5Ghz option. Switch it over to the 5Ghz option for faster speed. If it’s not done already, you will have to enable this from your router settings, and then it will be found in the Wi-Fi signals available to connect to.
3. Router security. It’s possible unwanted users could be using your Wi-Fi. You can check all connected devices in your router settings. Boot off anything you don’t recognise.
4. Updates. Update your device, browser, and router software to optimise performance.

If your connection is still sluggish after trying all these steps, contact your provider. There may be an issue they can fix remotely, or they may send an engineer or new router.

If they can’t resolve the issue within one month, you have the right to cancel your contract free of charge.

What's the average speed in the UK?

The average broadband download speed for a fixed-line connection is 104.53Mb We found the average weighted broadband speed for download and upload to be 81.97Mb.

What is a good broadband speed?

No one wants to be left with slow broadband, but with faster speed comes a higher price, so never pay more for what you need.

Here’s what you should be looking for as a guide, based on the number of people in your household. These speeds should be enough for everyone to comfortably stream high definition video at once:

• 1-person households: 10Mb-30Mb average download speed
• Up to 3 people: 30-50Mb average download speed
• Up to 5 people: 50-100Mb+ average download speed

• Methodology

  We took the average broadband speed at postcode level from 207,711 speed tests from a 12-month period in 2023 and 2024.

  To qualify and to be included in the study, postcodes must have the following criteria:

  • A minimum of three speed tests from three unique IP addresses.
  • The test is from a commercial internet service provider.
  • The test is from a fixed-line internet connection.
  • At least 10 residential properties required at a postcode.

  Postcodes were ranked from highest to lowest on a combination of broadband download speed and broadband upload speed, using an 80:20 ratio.

  Speed tests were run through and recorded by the Broadband Genie speed test.

  Broadband availability was checked through the Broadband Genie broadband checker and the thinkbroadband local information checker.

  Mobile internet (4G and 5G) availability was checked through www.signalchecker.co.uk.

  ‘Inside Out 2’ file size is based on the 5.38 GB file size from the Microsoft Store.