The lagging problem across the country makes the UK one of the worst places for broadband in Europe according to recent research. The findings by Akamai also revealed that not one UK city made it into the top 100 places in the world to receive broadband.
Ashford resident Andy Pruvost, 23, has told Kent Press that it is sometimes impossible to do simple surfing on the internet as speeds vary from 1.0Mpbs to 3.0Mpbs - speeds which are the average in parts of Africa.
"Sometimes you want to load a video and it takes ages so you can't really watch the video, or even when you're playing silly games on Facebook and the internet, it's really slow so you can't play these games."
Mr Pruvost, who is in the UK training to teach French, told us connections at home across the channel are much faster: "In France the quality is much better than here in England. The speed is much higher and we've got fibre optic which is really fast in France. I know that it is coming here, but we still have a much better connection in France," he explains. You can hear his full reaction by clicking on the video above.
Earlier this year it was revealed that some areas of Kent are the slowest in the country. Research by top10.com found that Farningham village was struggling to reach speeds of 1.3Mpbs and Railway Hill Street in Canterbury could only manage a minuscule 0.13Mpbs - making it the slowest road in the UK.
There is a light at the end of the tunnel for Kent web surfers. Earlier this month Kent County Council (KCC) announced that rural communities with slow broadband can apply for a grant of up to £100,000 to boost their internet connection. The £1.5m allocated to applications can be bid by community groups, parish councils and local authorities.
"Many rural areas have 'not spots' which means they have either slow broadband or no service at all," said Councillor Kevin Lynes, member for regeneration and economic development.
"Successful bids will be able to make a real difference to local people and change their quality of life - Having access to fast broadband is as important as any other utility service," he added.
"However, there are only so many communities we can help, and ultimately by helping to prove the demand for broadband we hope the telecoms providers will take responsibility for bringing this technology to 'harder to reach' areas," said Mr Lynes.
And there is more hope - BT is rolling out its upgraded superfast Infinity broadband later this month. Upgrades in Ashford, Bexleyheath, Tunbridge Wells, Sittingbourne, Gravesend and Dartford are already underway according to the BT website. Canterbury, Deal, Strood, Orpington, Chatham, Herne Bay and other struggling areas will receive the upgrades later this year. But only Deal, Greenhithe and Herne Bay will actually be able to use these speeds in 2012.
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