Why Your Internet Slows Down At Night (And How To Fix It)

Internet speeds are supposed to be stable and available at all times of the day. What many customers are not aware of is that some internet providers manage their internet speeds during peak times through the use of throttling. This kind of reduction in available speeds is meant to manage traffic within the network, but it can impede your ability to game, stream content, or enjoy seamless video calling as needed.

Not all internet providers throttle their internet speeds, however. EPB is one of the few internet providers that promises to never throttle connection speeds in addition to having equal upload and download speeds.

This is a big deal because, with everyone around the world moving to work from home and the increased number of students that are attending school fully online, there has been a much bigger demand for internet connectivity around the world. Internet companies are adjusting slowly to meet this need, but there are still some issues that can lead to internet slowdowns at night and during peak times of usage.

If you have been struggling with this issue related to your use of the internet, you need to read on.

Peak Hours Can Slow Your Internet Connection Down At Night

If you have an internet provider like EPB that doesn’t throttle connection speeds, this won’t be an issue for you. Otherwise, this problem is hard to resolve because you cannot control what your internet provider does to manage high traffic periods.

The best that you can do is try to avoid the use of your internet during these periods if you have seen a connection between degraded performance and time of day. You can also look into switching to a different internet company to try and eliminate some of the issues that your current provider is having. Peak hours should not cause really noticeable slowdowns in your performance unless you are gaming or streaming.

Network Congestion Leads to Decreases in Internet Speed At Night

Congestion can be worse in large cities and places that have a high demand related to school and work. You might want to turn off other devices, disconnect items that might pull data, and have people in your home avoid streaming while you take care of business calls or other important work. This can help a lot during rush hour, and then you can go back to using your various devices without issue.

The more devices and people who are using your connection, the more bogged down it can get. Sometimes there can be devices using the internet that you may not realize, or you may not know what other people in the house are doing on the internet.

Bad Weather Can Also Impact Your Internet Connection At Night

Believe it or not, bad weather can also impact your internet connection. Many people don’t think of the weather as part of the problem related to slowdowns or interruptions in service, but the weather can have a very real impact on your internet speeds and performance. Storms and other kinds of natural events can take the internet completely offline or cause issues with lag and other performance problems.

Using the Wrong Network Could Be Slowing Down Your Internet

If you live in an area where there are lots of Wi-Fi connections active at one time, you might be connected to the wrong network. This can happen in apartments and other locations where many people have their own network, and some of them might not be secured. If you have accidentally connected to someone else’s network, you can simply tell your devices to forget this connection and get reconnected to your own network again.

While it might seem like you could not possibly connect to the wrong wireless network, it is easier than you might think. People around you who do not have secured Wi-Fi can cause your devices to see this network along with yours, and a simple error picking the right connection can cause this issue very easily.

Slow VPN Connection Can Decrease Internet Speed At Night

VPN connection issues can be very frustrating, particularly if you are not using a VPN that you own. If your work VPN is slow or is having issues, you might need to contact the help desk or IT support for your business. If you are having issues with your own VPN, you can reconnect to a different server or turn it off and back on to see if this helps solve the issue.

Using a VPN is a really great way to protect your connection from prying eyes, but there are sometimes issues with VPN use related to internet speeds. If you are the owner of the VPN that is not performing as you want it to, you might need to upgrade your VPN service or switch to a different provider to improve this part of your internet speed experience.

Modem and Router Issues Can Slows Down Internet At Night

Having a quality modem and router can make a big difference in your internet performance overall. You will need your modem and your router to be able to provide the speeds that you are paying for from your internet provider, and you want to be certain that you are able to keep these devices updated correctly to prevent issues with your online security as well.

Upgrading to a better modem and router is sometimes all that you need to do to improve your internet speeds and enjoy better performance every day from your internet. You will need to make sure that you are not working with a refurbished unit that is not actually up to your standards. You should also look at the capabilities of any router you are thinking of buying carefully to be sure that you will be able to pull the speeds that you want.

Fiber internet, like the Fi Speed Internet from EPB, doesn’t need a modem which eliminates this as a potential issue. Plus, EPB has 24/7 expert technical support and they can help you troubleshoot and fix any issues with your router, wireless connection, or internet speed.

Internet Can Slow Down Because of Your Computer

If your computer is old or has a virus, the computer might be the issue and not your internet connection. You can easily find out if your computer is the problem by making sure that you check for viruses and run through all the updates that the machine needs to do. You can also run an internet speed test to see if the internet speeds that you are accessing are what you are paying for.

If the internet speeds that you are getting are correct, you might need to invest in a new computer or upgrade your existing machine to be able to take on more tasks and have more memory. Sometimes a switch to a solid-state drive is all that is needed, or you might want to add additional memory to your machine so that you can run more complex processes all at the same time.

How to Test Your Internet Speed?

The best way to see what speeds that you are getting from your internet connection is to test your speeds at various times of the day. There are many free testing tools out there that you can use for your research. You will simply tell these tools to run a speed test, and they will display the current speed that your internet is registering.

If you think that your loss of internet performance is related to throttling during rush hour times, you can easily prove this by comparing your internet speed test done before rush hour and during rush hour. You can also make sure that you are getting the right internet speeds from your connection during ideal times. When you are not getting access to the speeds that you have paid for, you might have issues with your router, or you might need to make sure that your internet provider is delivering you the connection that you have paid for.

In some cases, you need to use the router that your internet company provides to get access to the full speeds that you are paying for, or you might need to upgrade your router to improve your speeds. There are situations where throttling is not really your issue, and the hardware that is delivering your internet is the problem. Some people also have better luck with internet speeds when they use a wired connection for their access.

The testing results that you have gathered can be a powerful tool for your internet provider to use to help diagnose issues with your area or your own personal connection as well. Your internet company should always be willing to work with you to make sure that you have the internet access that you need to work, learn, or stream at home.