Top 10 Fastest and Slowest UK Cities and Towns by Broadband ISP Speed

A new study of broadband performance across fifty of the country’s “most populated towns and cities” has revealed that the average UK broadband download speed grew by 16% to 7.84Mbps (up from 6.74Mbps in 2011). Meanwhile London tops the speed chart with an average of 13.262Mbps, while Norwich came last on 5.336Mbps.

The uSwitch study, which compared hundreds of thousands of anecdotal speed tests conducted between Jan-Jun last year and Jan-Jun 2012, also reveals that 29% of UK postcodes tested still receive internet download speeds of less than 3Mbps and 21% get below the government’s minimum 2015 target of 2Mbps. Note: Each city required a minimum of 800 speed tests.

Top 10 Fastest Broadband UK Cities and Towns (2012)

1. London 13.262Mbps
2. Belfast 11.315Mbps
3. Liverpool 11.154Mbps
4. Milton Keynes 10.6Mbps
5. Swindon 10.415Mbps
6. Portsmouth 10.402Mbps
7. Luton 10.247Mbps
8. Walsall 10.025Mbps
9. Stockport 9.798Mbps
10. Southampton 9.55Mbps

Top 10 Slowest Broadband UK Cities and Towns (2012)

1. Norwich 5.336Mbps
2. Aberdeen 5.786Mbps
3. York 6.402Mbps
4. Ipswich 6.778Mbps
5. Stoke-on-Trent 7.038Mbps
6. Huddersfield 7.1025Mbps
7. Sunderland 7.493Mbps
8. Hull 7.530Mbps
9. Coventry 7.719Mbps
10. Newcastle-upon-Tyne 7.759Mbps

Overall the South East of England dominates the top of the table for the best performance with five towns and cities in the top ten. Meanwhile Milton Keynes saw its average broadband speed rocket from 6.64Mbps to 10.6Mbps (up almost 60% on 2011 thanks to BT’s new superfast broadband services). Sadly more northerly and midland parts of the UK didn’t do so well.

For example, Scotland in particular seems to have done poorly in 2012 and saw an overall decline in speeds. Edinburgh, Glasgow and Dundee have all seen a fall in speeds of up to 16%. The only Scottish town to see an increase was Aberdeen, which climbed ever so slightly to an average speed of 5.78Mbps.

The UK government currently aims to make a minimum broadband download speed of 2Mbps available to everybody by 2015 and wants 90% of the country to have access to a superfast (25-30Mbps+) service by the same date.