.. with everyone out in the sun - just goes to show that broadband providers are sharing connections and running it at peak load !!! What a rip-off !

.. with everyone out in the sun - just goes to show that broadband providers are sharing connections and running it at peak load !!! What a rip-off !

Could you expand a little on this information please Carborundum.

i think he means that people's throughput or download speed is more stable from various sites etc during summer months. Kinda agree with his point although if you find a good download manager you can get stable speeds all year round.

Hope that helps

What does this mean can somebody expand more on this.

One of my mates is a programmer, software developer and internet and routing expert, he has explained the following to me.

Basically in UK we have an internet backbone which connects to the rest of the world and it is substantial and has enough speed and capacity to provide us with a very fast service at all times.
All internet service providers ( Virgin, Plusnet, BT etc.. ) have a connection between the UK internet backbone and their own main switching centre.
Consumers like us all have connections between our homes and the ISP switching centres via ADSL or cable to our homes or the mobile phone network.

Now here is the thing. We are all encouraged to upgrade our service by paying more to improve and increase our connection speed to our homes, but this only improves the connection between us and the ISP. The most important connection today is the one between the ISP and the UK internet backbone. Most ISPs are saving money by not having enough capacity with this connection and that is why things are slowing down. This connection costs each ISP a fortune. This is why they are trying to save money, but with the advent of services like the BBC I-player this capacity is being eaten up like never before.

Therefore if you are having a slow connection, have a look at your ISPs own home page and their own content. If that loads up really fast (it comes from their own servers and not the main backbone connection) then the problem is the ISP and it's poor connection to the backbone.

Nicely explained muddycoffee, thanks :)

Rock solid speeds summer, winter day or evening. Occasional congestion on the BT exchange now and again. :)