Report reveals drop between peak and off-peak surfing (UK)

[Mulreay]

UK broadband speeds drop by an average of 35% from their off-peak highs when most people are online in the evening, according to a report.

The research, conducted by the comparison site Uswitch, was based on two million broadband speed tests.

The peak surfing times between 7pm and 9pm were the slowest to be online, the report said.

Full story: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-15742055

[Salmon Trout]

This has been true ever since I first got online in 1998. Not sure why this is surprising. It  has been this way ever since web and net connectivity became a mass-market product in the mid 90s.

[Helpmeh]

It's a pretty well-accepted fact for a reason.  They don't call it "prime time" for nothing. It's not just TV that get's the most viewers from 7-9, it carries over to the internet as well.

[Salmon Trout]

Just about every mass-use service or resource will experience peaks of usage. Roads, telephone systems, electric power grids, natural gas supply networks, etc. When I was a kid I learned that the British National Grid put extra capacity online on Mondays and Wednesdays at 7:45 PM because millions of people watching a popular soap, "Coronation Street", would all switch on an electric kettle to make cups of tea when the ad break happened.

[Mulreay]

The general point of the story is about this

Critics say consumers are being misled by internet service providers who continue to advertise their maximum broadband speeds, even though many users do not get them.

New rules from the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) say that from April next year providers will no longer be able to advertise maximum speeds for net packages unless 10% of customers receive them. They must also make it clear if a significant proportion of users wll not be able to get the headline speed.