For years people living in rural areas were told they couldn’t get fast broadband because they lived too far from their telephone exchange. However, Openreach has turned that on its head by telling a Scottish couple they can’t have it because they’re too close.

Scott McFarlane, who lives with his wife in Oldmeldrum, a village 17 miles from Aberdeen, says he was staggered to be told why his dismally slow broadband could not be upgraded. It’s two years since fast-fibre arrived in the village, and a neighbour has it. But McFarlane says Openreach, which provides the UK’s broadband infrastructure, has refused to connect his home.

The self-employed oil industry worker says the decision condemns the family to have to turn off all other wi-fi devices if they want to stream a programme on BBC iPlayer or Netflix. During the evening, he says, the home often gets just 1 Mbps speeds – compared with the 20-30 Mbps he’d likely get on fibre.

He says his broadband access has become a joke among his clients who are based in Africa and in the Middle East, who can’t believe the appallingly slow broadband he has, compared with theirs. Appeals to Openreach – and to his Scottish MSP – have, he says, had no impact, and the situation continues.

The case exposes the postcode lottery that receiving decent broadband has become in the UK. Despite repeated claims by ministers, householders continue to struggle to obtain a usable service. They may also face long delays when they agree to pay for the upgrade.

Last week, uSwitch claimed that 17% of householders would not consider moving to the countryside because of the fear that the broadband would not work.

“We have fast broadband in the village but our house is too close to the exchange if you can believe that. Over the years I have tried everything to get connected, but I keep being told we are too close and nothing can be done,” McFarlane says.

“It seems when Openreach decided to give Oldmeldrum fast broadband the cheapest way to do so would be to not replace the old exchange, but instead to offer the majority of Oldmeldrum fast broadband via the green boxes around the village. Those close to the exchange would not be offered fast broadband but remain connected to the old exchange.”

He has been told that one neighbour has it, but his home is the cut off point in the street.

To add insult to injury, he says Openreach told him that one way he could upgrade was if he persuaded his similarly affected neighbours to put up some money. “I was told that we could then apply for a community fibre partnership to help pay for an upgrade ourselves. I’m not sure it is my job to do their canvassing, and pay them for the privilege to buy broadband from them at a more expensive price. It seems to me that they want me to help fund the scheme to guarantee their future profits,” he says.

But even if he did come up with the money, there is no guarantee that it would work, it seems.

Guardian Money was also contacted this week by the residents of Wigbeth in Dorset, who were told they were too far from the exchange to get fast broadband. So a group of 16 residents collectively came up with £5,500 to enable Openreach to install broadband to their community. Dorset County Council matched their sum, leaving Openreach to pay the remaining £11,000. However, Spencer Planton, who organised the scheme, says it has been delayed because of Openreach’s apparent inability to complete the paperwork in time. He now fears it won’t be done at all because time is running out on the contract between the company and the council.

“It’s ridiculous, but it seems that our scheme has been sitting on someone’s desk and going nowhere. There are 14 schemes in Dorset alone that have been similarly held up by Openreach delays, and probably many more around the country,” Planton says.

A spokesman for Openreach told Money that while it is sorry, there is nothing it is prepared to do for McFarlane, as he has a rare exchange-only line.

“Exchange-only lines are more complex and expensive to upgrade to faster, more reliable fibre technology, because they serve individual customers rather than the large clusters. that connect to cabinets or nodes out in the street. Over the past few years, our engineers have been rearranging the network and upgrading as many lines as we can. Having said that, there are no current plans to upgrade Mr McFarlane’s home.”

Of the Dorset residents, it says it is equally frustrated that the work has not started and it is confident it will be completed within the timeframe.