Broadband availability
Broadband in Alston
Results for Alston, Westmorland and Furness. Enter your postcode below for exact address results.
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Broadband Types Available in Alston
| Type | Status | Download | Upload |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard Broadband | Available | 7 Mbps | 1 Mbps |
| Superfast Broadband | Available | 49 Mbps | 20 Mbps |
| Ultrafast / Full Fibre | Available | 870 Mbps | 870 Mbps |
| Mobile Broadband | Available | 50 Mbps | 10 Mbps |
Best option in Alston
Full fibre (FTTP) is available in Alston, with typical download speeds of around 870 Mbps. This is the fastest and most reliable type of home broadband connection.
Broadband Providers in Alston
Customer ratings sourced from Trustpilot. Checked 18 June 2026.
Postcodes in Alston
About Broadband in Alston
Alston is in Westmorland and Furness. Full fibre broadband is available here, with typical download speeds of around 870 Mbps, well above the UK average of 69 Mbps. Most major providers cover the area, so there is a reasonable amount of competition on price.
Standard broadband runs over the copper phone network. Speeds depend on your distance from the telephone exchange and typically range from around 5 Mbps to 20 Mbps.
Superfast broadband (FTTC) uses a fibre optic cable to your street cabinet, then copper for the final stretch to your home. Most urban and suburban areas can get speeds of 35 to 80 Mbps.
Full fibre (FTTP) runs fibre optic cable all the way into your home. It is the fastest and most reliable option available, with speeds from 100 Mbps upwards.
What's Happening with Broadband in Alston?
Alston sits at around 1,000 metres above sea level and is widely cited as the highest market town in England. Getting fast, reliable broadband to remote upland communities like this has historically been a challenge, which makes the current picture all the more notable: full fibre (FTTP) is now available in Alston, delivering speeds of around 870 Mbps via Openreach's national network.
That puts Alston well ahead of where many comparable rural towns in Westmorland and Furness stood just a few years ago. Nationally, gigabit-capable coverage reached approximately 89% of UK premises in the second half of 2025, with full fibre (FTTP) specifically covering around 82% of homes. For a market town of Alston's size and geography, having FTTP available at all is a significant outcome of the rural rollout programmes that have been running across Cumbria and the wider North of England.
No specific Openreach press announcements naming Alston or Westmorland and Furness directly were identified in the current news cycle (June 2026). The availability in this area is most likely the result of Project Gigabit or similar publicly subsidised funding that has extended Openreach builds into harder-to-reach communities across the county.
On the phone network side, Openreach has confirmed that the old analogue copper PSTN service will close in January 2027. If you or anyone in your household still uses a traditional landline plugged directly into the wall socket, you will need to switch to a digital Voice over IP (VoIP) service before then. Your broadband provider can arrange this, and the switch is straightforward if you are already on a full fibre connection.
No major altnets (alternative network operators such as CityFibre or Gigaclear) currently appear to serve the Alston area, meaning Openreach is likely the primary infrastructure provider here. ISPs including BT, Sky, Vodafone, EE, and Plusnet all resell on the Openreach network.
Use the postcode checker above to confirm exactly which speeds and providers are available at your address in Alston.