Why Is My Broadband Slow In The Evening

The main cause of a drop in broadband speed in the evening is because of the contention ratio.
July 27, 2021
Advice

You may find that your internet speeds slow down in the evening. This is because evenings are peak times for people using the internet – after they have finished work or school. People are often streaming movies, watching TV series or gaming in the evening. The main cause of a drop in broadband speed in the evening is because of the contention ratio.

What is contention ratio?

Contention ratio refers to the number of people that share the same cable as you. Think of the contention ratio as traffic on the road, if there is lots of traffic then it will take you longer to get to your destination, whereas if there is no traffic it will take you less time. In the evenings and weekends when lots of people are online, your internet speeds may slow or even drop out.

Depending on what sort of broadband service you have will determine your contention ratio. Broadband services such as FTTP (Fibre-to-the-premises) and FTTC (Fibre-to-the-cabinet) are less affected by contention ratio then ADSL broadband (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line). This is because FTTP and FTTC broadband has more capability to be able to support multiple users at once.

What’s the difference between FTTP and FTTC?

Fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) gives you a full-fibre dedicated connection. It uses fibre optic cables that go directly from the exchange to your property. Whereas Fibre-to-the-cabinet (FTTC) broadband uses fibre optic cables to the main exchange but then splits these using copper wires and connects to multiple properties. Connecting to multiple properties causes high contention ratios which slow down your speeds at peak times.

FTTP broadband is the better choice. It provides ultrafast speeds and ultra-reliability. No dropouts or slow speeds at peak times. By switching to FTTP broadband you can say goodbye to articles like these as you won’t need them. As you’d have your own connection there would be no issues with your network at peak times.

Truespeed’s FTTP broadband is considered great value for money as it means that your speeds are guaranteed. No more ‘average’ or ‘up to’ speeds. Here at Truespeed, we guarantee your ultrafast broadband speeds 24/7. If you have any problems our highly trained Technical Support Team is on hand to answer any questions or queries you may have.

If you’re fed up with your broadband slowing down or dropping out in the evenings and on weekends then it’s time to make the switch. Say goodbye to slow speeds at peak times and say hello to ultrafast broadband 24/7!

Discover our full-fibre broadband packages