The Top Fastest and Slowest UK Locations for Broadband Speed in 2025

New research from Broadband Genie has analysed 348,000 internet speed tests across 1,302 locations in order to identify the top slowest and fastest UK locations for broadband. The slowest location was found to be Lostwithiel in Cornwall (average downloads of 2Mbps and uploads of 1Mbps), while the fastest was South Hetton in County Durham (526Mbps down and 448Mbps up).

According to Thinkbroadband’s latest data, some 87.3% of UK premises are currently within reach of a gigabit-capable fixed broadband network (1000Mbps+), which primary reflects the combination of full fibre (FTTP/B) and hybrid fibre coax (HFC) lines. Similarly, some 98.3% of premises should be within reach of a fixed “superfast broadband” (30Mbps+) network.

However, the new study is based on consumer speedtests, which are useful but tend not to accurately reflect the underlying availability of faster broadband networks and are thus more a reflection of consumer take-up (i.e. people on slower networks/packages may weight against those on faster ones).

For example, many homes in Lostwithiel, the slowest location, should still have access to FTTC connections via Openreach’s network, which can locally go a lot faster than 2Mbps (often exceeding 25Mbps). Suffice to say that the test sample may be weighted more in favour of older ADSL users or outlying premises, rather than those on more modern FTTC connections within the town.

In other cases, consumers may be aware that a faster service exists, but they have simply chosen not to upgrade due to various issues, such as the potentially higher price, lack of support for the new network by their existing ISP, fear of switching, being stuck in a long contract term or a simple lack of need or desire for anything faster.

Speedtest-based studies like this can also be influenced by other factors, such as poor home wiring, the user’s choice of package (e.g. 1Gbps could be available, but people may pick a slower tier), local (home) network congestion and slow home WiFi etc.

Fastest Broadband Speeds by Home Nations

The report also notes that London is ranked 587th for broadband speed in the UK (other large cities also struggled – Manchester (291st), Leeds (422nd), Glasgow (510th) and Birmingham (824th)). Apparently, locals of the capital recorded broadband speeds of 82Mbps, which is deemed “unremarkable for a hub of finance, commerce, and education“, while 20% experienced broadband speeds lower than 10Mbps and 4% failed to reach 3Mbps. But the report doesn’t seem to make a weighted table available that shows this (there’s only an unweighted dataset that doesn’t follow the same ranking).

In short, take these results with a pinch of salt and remember, the slowest locations are the ones that cannot get a viable broadband service and thus won’t appear in these studies. Similarly, the fastest areas are those covered by the handful of providers capable of offering them speeds in the 7-10Gbps range, such as B4RN, Youfibre (Netomnia) and a few others.

Fastest Broadband Speeds by UK County

Fastest 10 UK Locations by Broadband Speed

Slowest 10 UK Locations by Broadband Speed