The Internet Slows Down in the Evening

I'm not sure that this will come as all that much of a surprise to long term users but the internet slows down in the afternoon. ISPs in the UK were tested on download speeds and it was found that:

Broadband download speeds in the UK dramatically fall at peak times, according to new research by online comparison site uSwitch.

The outfit said that between 7pm and 9pm, download speeds drop off by an average of 35 per cent when most people are accessing the internet from home.

The reason I say this won't come as much of a surprise to long term users is that something very similar to this used to be a real bugbear back a few years.

The current slowing down is of course a minor inconvenience but in those early days (say, the late 90s) the entire system could become virtually unusable at certain times. It took me ages to work it out but it was always at about 3pm to 4 pm California time. I only actually realised it when I'd been in three different time zones and found that the time of day when it happened for me was changing but was consistent with California time.

It was then pointed out to me that this is when West Coast teens were coming home from school and logging on: adding to the traffic pressure being provided by their peers in time zones further east.

What interests me about today though is the effect Netflix might be having on internet speeds:



Is there a notable slowdown in internet speeds in the US (where most of Netflix's business is) in those hours? Does anyone know?

