Exeter named worst place in the UK for broadband and 4G as national speeds are ranked: How does your town fare?

Exeter is the worst place to live in the UK in terms of staying connected on the web, according to a new study by GoCompare.

Data from the comparison site showed the average broadband download speed in Exeter is 26.84Mbps, while the city offers a woeful 6.31% 4G coverage. Conversely, London, which fared the best in the tests, has average download speeds of 31.70Mbps and 60.92% 4G coverage.

The results were published 18 months before high-speed broadband becomes a legal right for homes and businesses across the UK. From 2020, customers will be able to expect minimum speeds of 10Mbps, meaning that heavy investment is still required in some areas of the UK to reach this target.

The worst-connected UK cities are located across the South of England, Midlands and Wales. Hereford and Carlisle, which ranked 55 and 56 (out of 57) respectively, performed very badly across the range of criteria measured by GoCompare. In fact, it’s not clear how either city ranked better than Exeter, with Hereford scoring a shameful 0% 4G coverage and logging average download speeds of only 25.14Mbps. Alphr has contacted GoCompare for clarification.

“As a technologically advanced nation, the UK could be expected to provide its population with equal access to high-quality internet,” said Martyn John from GoCompare. “However, this study goes to show that more needs to be invested in some cities to offer their inhabitants the same online opportunities that people in London or Manchester receive.”

In May, a Which report revealed UK residents receive half the broadband speeds they pay for on average. However, this should now become a thing of the past as new rules have come into effect that mean ISPs can only advertise the average speed achievable for at least 50% of households at peak time.

To see how highly your city ranks for broadband speeds and 4G coverage, you can use GoCompare’s interactive visualisation.