- Morriston Close in Watford has the slowest broadband speeds in the UK, according to the first annual Broadband Genie Speed Street Study, comprised of a quarter of a million speed tests.
- The Hertfordshire road came bottom with average speeds of 0.6Mb – 1,494 times slower than Meadway in Weston Favell, Northampton, which boasts the fastest average downloads of 896Mb.
- Despite their sluggish Wi-Fi, residents in all ten of the UK’s slowest streets could upgrade to superfast broadband of at least 30Mb.
- With their online connections down to a snail’s pace, it would take Morriston Close’s residents almost two days to download Avengers End Game.
- Hawthornvale in Edinburgh had the slowest speeds in Scotland; Cefn Road in Bridgend came last in Wales, and Ballymacombs Road in Magherafelt was bottom in Northern Ireland.
- Broadband Genie is calling on households to check their internet connection performance and contact their provider if they are not receiving the guaranteed minimum speeds for their address.
The slowest street for broadband in the UK is Morriston Close in Watford, Hertfordshire, with average speeds of just 0.6Mb, analysis of a quarter of a million speeds test by Broadband Genie has found.
To put that into context, it would take almost two days to download Disney and Marvel’s Avengers Endgame[3].
However, a broadband checker will show all the 10 slowest streets in the UK have access to Superfast Broadband of at least 30Mb. 8 out of 10, have access to Ultrafast broadband (300Mb and over). Only Wade Court, Cheltenham and Cefn Road, Bridgend (Wales) don’t have access to speeds above 300Mb.
Residents of Morriston Close can sign up to broadband packages all the way up to Virgin Media’s, 1.1Gb ‘Gig1 Fibre’ product and download the superhero blockbuster in less than a one and half minutes.
Table: Slowest streets for broadband in the UK
| Rank | Street | Speed (Mb) |
| 1 | Morriston Close, Watford | 0.6 |
| 2 | Wade Court, Cheltenham | 1.2 |
| 3 | Leazes Lane, Bishop Auckland | 1.38 |
| 4 | Borstal Street, Rochester | 1.39 |
| 5 | Rocks Lane, London | 1.42 |
| 6 | Cefn Road, Bridgend | 1.43 |
| 7 | Mersea Road, Colchester | 1.53 |
| 8 | Hawthornvale, Edinburgh | 1.57 |
| 9 | Hollin Drive, Wakefield | 1.58 |
| 10 | Glebe Avenue, Braintree | 1.70 |
For the full results and further analysis: view the UK’s slowest streets study from Broadband Genie.
In contrast, Meadway in Weston Favell, Northampton boasts broadband speeds of 896.3Mb, 1,494 times faster than down the M1 motorway at Morriston Close, Watford. Residents can download Titanic in a much more reasonable 1 minutes and 37 seconds.
The average speed in the UK is 122.2Mb and full-fibre broadband is available 42% of the country, but this drops to 37% for those in rural areas.
Table: Fastest streets for broadband in the UK
| Rank | Street | Speed (Mb) |
| 1 | Meadway, Northampton | 896.30 |
| 2 | Rolvenden Grove, Milton Keynes | 711.64 |
| 3 | Colville Street, London | 626.61 |
| 4 | Nicholas Meadow, Callington | 619.82 |
| 5 | North Road East, Wingate | 608.80 |
| 6 | Chestnut Avenue, Chesham | 603.90 |
| 7 | Town Street, Pudsey | 594.04 |
| 8 | Amethyst Road, Christchurch | 587.17 |
| 9 | Lumsdale Crescent, Matlock | 583.73 |
| 10 | Ridge Green, Redhill | 569.70 |
See how your broadband speed compares: run a speed test with Broadband Genie.
Alex Tofts, broadband expert at Broadband Genie, comments: “No customer should put up with sluggish broadband, especially in a year where we’ve had to endure record high mid-contract price rises.
“The Universal Service Obligation is in place to ensure everyone has access to what the Government deems ‘decent’ broadband via a fixed connection. However, a significant number of people are still being left behind.
“Overall, the Watford area, including Morriston Close, does have access to fast broadband. Our research highlights that residents of Britain’s slowest streets could be suffering in silence, as faster broadband is available to their homes.
“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. 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.
“It’s important to note that these are real speed tests. Poor broadband can be caused by a variety of factors; such as the number of devices connected to the network or your router position. If your internet speed is falling short of what your provider promised and if you can’t troubleshoot the issue yourself, contact your provider. There could be an issue with the network, which is sometimes easily fixed.
“The majority of widely available providers are signed up to Ofcom’s Broadband Speeds Code of Practice. If your provider has signed up to this, but it can’t resolve your issue within 30 days, you are entitled to leave your contract free of charge.”
