Scotland's slowest streets for broadband revealed

The worst place for slow internet in Scotland has been found in the country’s third-largest city.

A study by comparison service Broadband Genie revealed the streets across Scotland with the fastest and slowest speeds.

After analysing 207,711 speed tests, the slowest street for broadband was not found in a remote and rural area but in Aberdeen, Scotland’s third-largest city.

Occupants on Turnberry Crescent, Aberdeen, averaged broadband speeds of 0.90Mb, making it 754 times slower than Gordon Street in Elgin, Scotland’s fastest street.

With broadband speeds like that, it would take internet users living on Turnberry Crescent almost 15 hours to download a high-definition film.

Turnberry Crescent also features in the top ten slowest streets in the whole of the UK.

Scotland’s second and third-slowest streets are Kenley Road in Renfrew (1.52Mb) and Colintraive in Argyll (1.89Mb).

Despite the slow speeds, each of the slowest streets still has access to the internet, which can deliver download speeds of up to 30Mb.

16,297 (2% of) premises in Scotland fall short of Ofcom’s Universal Service Obligation (USO) for broadband, giving anyone the right to request a broadband service of at least 10Mb.

Overall, Scotland’s streets averaged a broadband speed of 86.59Mb, slightly higher than the UK average (81.97Mb).

In Scotland, full fibre broadband is available to 57%; however, this drops to 35% when only looking at rural areas.

Scotland’s slowest streets for broadband

Turnberry Crescent, Aberdeen – 0.90
Kenley Road, Renfrew – 1.52
Colintraive, Argyll – 1.89
Doune Road, Dunblane – 2.32
Rhudal Cottages, Drumlemble – 2.50
House O’Hill Road, Edinburgh – 2.53
Sundibanks Road, Scalloway, Shetland – 4.40
Gleddoch Wynd, Langbank – 4.71
Knockbain, Kirkhill – 5.07
John Street, Forfar – 5.42

Scotland’s fastest streets for broadband

Gordon St, Elgin – 678.73
Dyke Road, Glasgow – 602.71
Erracht Road, Inverness – 591.05
Main Street, Busby – 543.34
Brimmond View, Aberdeen – 531.28
Newmilns Gardens, Blantyre – 506.41
East Links, Leven – 480.79
Elmvale Row, Glasgow – 471.29
Ambleside, East Kilbride – 465.04
Woodburn Way, Cumbernauld – 449.81

Alex Tofts, strategist at Broadband Genie, said customers should not have the tolerate slow broadband speeds when providers continue to raise prices.

“Poor broadband can be caused by various factors, such as number of devices, number of users and activity, router placement, and Wi-Fi signal strength,” he said.

“No bill payer or internet user should suffer in silence. If you find your broadband is consistently underperforming, and you can’t troubleshoot the issue yourself, contact your internet service provider.

“The majority of widely available broadband providers are signed up to Ofcom’s Broadband Speed Code of Practice. If your provider can’t resolve the issue within 30 days, you’re free to leave your contract without charge.

“If you haven’t renewed your broadband contract in over two years, it’s likely you can get a faster deal at the same or lower cost than what you’re currently paying.”