Having fast internet during the day but slow internet at night can be frustrating. There are several potential reasons why you may experience this discrepancy in internet speeds.
More People Using the Internet at Night
One of the most common reasons for slower internet speeds at night is simply more people using the internet during these hours. During the day, many people are at work or school and not accessing the internet from home. But when people get home from work and school, internet usage surges between around 5-11pm.
This increased demand can put a strain on your local network capacity. If you are on a shared connection with neighbors in an apartment building or dense residential area, high usage at peak times can slow speeds for everyone in the area.
Impact of Peak Usage Times
Most internet service providers build their networks to handle typical bandwidth usage across their customer base. However, during peak evening hours, this capacity can become overwhelmed. Here are some key statistics on peak internet usage:
| Time of Day | Change in Download Traffic |
|---|---|
| Early Morning (2am – 5am) | -44% below the daily average |
| Daytime (11am – 4pm) | -15% below the daily average |
| Evening (7pm – 11pm) | +50% above the daily average |
As you can see, evening hours tend to have around 50% higher internet traffic than the daily average. All this additional activity can exceed local network capacity in some areas, resulting in slower speeds.
Network Congestion
Network congestion is another key reason your internet may slow down specifically at night. This refers to so much data being sent through network infrastructure that it gets backed up and delayed.
Congestion typically happens at choke points where local or regional networks connect to larger backbone networks. During peak usage in the evenings, these interconnection points can get clogged with data.
Main Causes of Network Congestion
Here are the main factors that contribute to network congestion during busy evening periods:
- Bandwidth-intensive video streaming like Netflix, YouTube, etc.
- Gaming traffic
- Large software downloads/updates
- VPN connections for remote work
- Video calls over Zoom, Skype, etc.
Streaming video alone accounts for over 60% of evening internet traffic. All these high-bandwidth activities happening simultaneously places a huge load on networks.
Internet Rushing Hour
“Internet rush hour” is a term used by some experts to describe the nightly slowdown caused by increased congestion. Just as more cars on the roads at peak times can cause traffic jams, more data on the internet creates digital traffic jams.
This internet rush hour tends to start around 5-6pm and can last into the late evening hours. Speeds may not recover to normal levels until very late when fewer people are accessing the internet.
Impact on Different Connection Types
The internet rush hour can impact all types of internet connections, but some are affected more than others:
| Connection Type | Impact Level |
|---|---|
| DSL | High |
| Cable | Very High |
| Fiber | Moderate |
| Fixed Wireless | High |
| Satellite | Moderate |
DSL and cable internet rely on shared bandwidth in local areas, so are hit hardest. Fiber and satellite aren’t as affected, but still see some slowdowns during peak congestion.
Network Infrastructure Issues
In some cases, slower speeds at night could indicate a network infrastructure problem. Two examples are:
Overloaded Network Nodes
Traffic from local connections is routed through aggregation nodes. In areas with heavy usage, these can become overloaded and cause congestion.
Damaged Lines
Physical lines delivering DSL or cable internet can become damaged. This causes degraded capability. Problems may not be noticeable until high traffic periods.
If slowdowns persist constantly rather than just at night, this may indicate infrastructure issues. Contacting your ISP to investigate could identify and resolve such problems.
Wi-Fi Network Overload
At home, your Wi-Fi network can also contribute to slower speeds in the evening. More devices like smartphones, laptops, smart TVs etc. connecting to Wi-Fi puts more load on your router.
If family members are streaming, gaming, video chatting and more simultaneously at night, the Wi-Fi itself can become overwhelmed. Weak spots in your coverage area will experience the biggest slowdowns.
Managing Wi-Fi Congestion
Here are some tips to minimize Wi-Fi congestion contributing to slower speeds:
- Upgrade to a new dual or tri-band wireless router
- strategically reposition your router for optimal coverage
- Close proximity devices like a media streamer can connect via ethernet instead of Wi-Fi
- Reduce interference by putting your router on a clear channel
Improving your home Wi-Fi setup can help maximize speeds during peak usage times.
Bandwidth Throttling
Some internet providers intentionally throttle bandwidth speeds during busy evening hours. They may do this to ease network congestion.
This strategy can help mitigate the impact of peak usage surges and maintain more consistent speeds for all customers. However, it comes at the cost of reduced performance at night.
Identifying Throttling
You may be getting throttled by your ISP if:
- Speeds consistently and significantly slow around the same time each evening
- Slowdowns are not related to Wi-Fi or device issues
- published speed tiers are never achieved at peak times
- ISP advertises “traffic management” policies
Contact your provider to confirm if throttling is used and why. You may be able to adjust your plan.
Using a Shared Public Connection
If you are accessing the internet via a shared public connection, similar issues can arise. For example, at an apartment complex, office, or coffee shop.
These networks are designed for lighter daytime usage in most cases. When more users get on at night, available bandwidth per person drops significantly.
To improve speeds, try to use the shared network during off-peak daytime hours if possible. Performance will generally be better then.
More Devices Connected at Night
At home, having more devices connected to your network at night also creates more demand. Each additional device consumes some amount of bandwidth, reducing available speed per device.
Try auditing devices on your home network at night to eliminate any that aren’t actively being used. Disconnecting idle devices can help maximize your usable internet speeds.
Typical Devices Connected at Night
Here are some of the devices that may join your network in the evenings, using up internet capacity:
- Laptops, tablets, phones connecting after people get home
- IoT devices like smart speakers, lightbulbs, thermostats etc.
- Gaming consoles
- Smart TVs streaming movies/shows
- Security cameras uploading footage
Evaluate whether any less critical devices can be disconnected or paused to preserve bandwidth for your most important activities.
ISP Traffic Management Policies
Some ISPs actively manage traffic on their networks to optimize performance. This involves analyzing usage patterns and applying various techniques.
Common Traffic Management Methods
Here are some ways ISPs may manage traffic during congested evening periods:
- Throttling – Intentionally limiting speeds for certain applications or network locations.
- Caching – Replicating popular content on local servers to reduce backbone traffic.
- Traffic shaping – Prioritizing some types of traffic over others.
- Load balancing – Distributing traffic across multiple network links.
These measures aim to alleviate congestion. But they can negatively impact speeds if not implemented properly.
Effects on Users
Traffic management effects users in a few key ways:
| Impact | Description |
|---|---|
| Slower peak hour speeds | Intentionally limiting bandwidth per user. |
| Blocked protocols | File sharing blocked to preserve capacity. |
| Buffering delays | Traffic shaping can increase buffering of video. |
| High latency | Load balancing can increase latency sensitivity. |
Understanding your ISP’s policies and providing user feedback on their effects can help achieve a better quality of experience.
Power Boost / Burst Speeds
Some cable internet providers offer a “Power Boost” feature. This temporarily increases speeds when starting a download.
Power Boost gives an initial speed burst for the first 10-20MB of a download. Once the burst capacity is used up, your connection drops back to normal speeds.
Why Speed Bursts Happen
Here’s why you may see these short speed bursts:
- Allows quick loading of web pages and video starts.
- Gives perception of faster performance.
- Uses spare capacity in cable network.
- Speed returns to normal once burst is used.
Power Boost aims to improve responsiveness when starting online activities. But sustained high speeds cannot be maintained.
When Bursts Occur
You are most likely to experience temporary speed bursts:
- When first visiting a website or starting a video
- For the first few seconds of a download
- Mainly during off-peak daytime hours
- Less frequently when network is congested at night
Power Boost provides a quick responsive boost right when you need it by utilizing spare network capacity. But it is not designed for sustained faster speeds.
Improving Slow Speeds at Night
If you are experiencing significantly slower internet at night compared to daytime speeds, there are some steps you can take to troubleshoot and potentially improve performance:
Contact Your ISP
Reach out to your internet provider’s technical support team. Explain the issue and times it occurs. They can investigate factors like network congestion and infrastructure issues.
Consider a Faster Service Tier
Upgrading to a faster speed tier with your ISP can help combat network congestion issues. With more bandwidth available per user, your speeds are less impacted at peak times.
Upgrade In-Home Wi-Fi
Eliminate Wi-Fi bottlenecks by upgrading your home router and optimizing the network setup. Boost weak spots with range extenders.
Reduce Devices at Night
Audit and reduce the number of active devices using your home’s internet connection in the evenings. Disable any idle devices temporarily.
Schedule Large Downloads
Perform large downloads like software updates during quiet daytime hours. Avoid bandwidth-intensive tasks at peak evening times.
Limit Video Quality
Reduce streaming video resolution settings on Netflix, YouTube and other services. This lightens the bandwidth load at night.
Use a Wired Connection
For devices close to your router like a media streamer, use a wired ethernet connection instead of Wi-Fi to maximize speeds.
Test at Off-Peak Times
To isolate issues with your ISP, run speed tests at quiet times like late morning. Compare results to evening slowdowns.
Change TCP Congestion Control
Adjusting TCP algorithms in router settings can sometimes help performance when networks are congested.
Targeting the root causes behind nightly internet slowdowns can help optimize speeds throughout the day. Be sure to troubleshoot your home network setup and contact your ISP to identify and resolve any issues.
Conclusion
There are many potential culprits behind slower internet speeds at night compared to during the day. Higher network usage demands, congestion, infrastructure overload, and ISP management policies commonly combine to degrade performance during peak evening hours.
Strategies like upgrading your monthly internet plan, improving in-home Wi-Fi, and adjusting activity schedules can help mitigate the impact. Working with your ISP and optimizing your network setup are key to maximizing internet speeds 24/7.