The streets suffering London’s slowest internet were revealed today.
Data compiled by comparison site uSwitch shows the disparity in web speeds across the capital, with people living in London’s best-connected roads enjoying speeds more than 100 times faster than those in the worst spots.
Danbrook Road in Streatham was identified as suffering London’s slowest internet. Residents describe struggling with the most basic online tasks and resign themselves to resetting routers multiple times daily when their connection conks out.
The street achieves an average speed of about 1.2 megabits per second, making services such as Skype and Facetime border on unusable at times, while it can take nearly 12 hours to download a two-hour movie.
Approximate average download speeds
1 Danbrook Rd, Streatham 1.2mbps
2 St Stephens Rd, Barnet 1.3mbps
3 Windsor Court, Barnet 1.5mbps
4 Oak Close, Southgate 2mbps
5 Norlington Rd, Leyton 2.2mbps
6 Pellatt Grove, Wood Green 2.3mbps
7 Davenant St, Whitechapel 2.5mbps
8 Maritime Quay, Isle of Dogs 2.9mbps
9 High Rd, Wood Green 3mbps
10 Oak Close, Enfield 3.2mbp
Message Input
London’s next slowest streets were St Stephens Road and Windsor Court, both in Barnet, where downloads hover at around 1.3mbps and 1.5mbps respectively.
Analysts based the results on more than 279,000 nationwide domestic speed tests. uSwitch said many of the slowest streets could be eligible for fibre-optic cable upgrades.
Causes of slow connections include distance from the exchange and outdated copper cabling infrastructure.
London’s fastest internet is enjoyed by residents of Limeharbour on the Isle of Dogs, who achieve 143mbps downloads, followed by Westcombe Park Road in Blackheath with 80mbps. Bizarrely, Limeharbour is just a mile from Maritime Quay, which sits at number eight on London’s slowest list.
Britain’s slowest broadband is endured by people living in a Cheltenham street where average download speeds are just 0.14Mbps.
Danbrook Road resident Martin May, who is a consultant in communication skills and team-building, said patchy audio for video calls, which are necessary for his work, means he sometimes needs his phone to hear clients while their images are shown on-screen.
Mr May pays £36 a month but says services have slowed in the past six months. He has to reset his router three or four times a day, and says: “It’s always a worry if I’m going to get a good connection.”
