Imagine that it is Sunday and you are tucked in your comforter in a cold winter night with hot chocolate and you are about to start a Game of Thrones marathon. Just when you are laughing at how people, in the beginning, thought Ned Stark would be the King of seven kingdoms, buffering kicks in. You feel hopeless with all the disappointment at bay and end up cursing your slower internet.

However, have you ever wondered, why does it happen at night often? There are multiple explanations for this. For start, let us think of a highway. When there is a large influx of traffic, the highways get jammed. Similarly, the internet is just like a highway with internet users passing through. If there are more users, the highway will be jammed and your internet speed will be slower.

Since the reasons can be numerous, we will try to address them all in this article. However, bear in mind that other than your ISP, the issue could be at your end too. Your router’s configuration might not be correct and not forget the technical glitches, wireless interference, and other fluctuations.

Network Congestion

Every internet user goes through this common phenomenon. You might have the fastest internet and high bandwidth in the peak hours, but still, you do not get it. The reason why this happens is network congestion. We will run the analogy of highways once again. When so many users are using the internet for streaming, downloading, and online games, the internet speeds are bound to be messed up due to congestion. The bandwidth is divided among many users. Activities like streaming high-definition on Netflix, downloading movies, and online gaming requires a good chunk of bandwidth. Since we all have a shared connection, there is not enough bandwidth for everyone due to excessive usage and our internet speed lags.

Hardware Issues

Another prominent cause of slower internet speeds during the night is your internet’s hardware. If you have outdated equipment, it might not be able to handle your family’s bandwidth requirement during high usage. For example, if you have 3-4 people in your home using high-end activities like streaming and downloading simultaneously, the equipment is bound to get overloaded. Therefore, all of you will face internet lag.

How to avoid the slow internet at night?

You can do many things:

Change your Internet service provider

Slower internet speed during peak hours is a common issue with customers having a fixed data cap. Therefore, it is advisable to sign-up with a provider that offers unlimited data such as Spectrum. With Spectrum Internet, you not only get unlimited data but blazing-fast speeds for all your devices during the peak hours. The plans are tailored to meet the requirements of every household. Moreover, in case of a technical issue, the Spectrum internet customer service is 24/7 available.

Sign-up for a faster plan

Buying more monthly data or bandwidth will not do much. Your internet might still get slow at night. Therefore, it is better to go for faster internet speed and connection. Connection type is quite important as it affects your bandwidth. For instance, many internet service providers use slower and outdated DSL internet on their basic plans and fiber internet on their high-tier plans. Therefore, getting the superior network, which in this case is fiber, will solve the issue.

Get a better router and modem

If you have an outdated router or modem, it would not be able to support high-end usage. The internet will be slower during times of high activity and life would be a mess. Therefore, get a new router with dual bands. They have both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands and you can choose between the two. The 2.5 GHz band supports download speeds up to 600 Mbps while the 5 GHz band supports download speed as high as 1,300 Mbps. The devices that require lower band often result in dropped connections and slower speeds. With 5GHz you can easily improve the connectivity, reliability and avoid dropped connections.

Final Verdict

If you have a slower internet at night, change your outdated router. If not, sign-up for a provider having faster speeds and reliable connections.