Why Doesn’t Fiber Get Jammed at Rush Hour?

By Stephanie Vozza

Updated on May 9, 2023

Rush hour doesn’t just happen on roads and expressways; internet service has peak times that can slow down traffic, too. Before the pandemic, weekday evenings between 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. were considered peak internet hours, with usage spiking as people returned home from work and school and got online at the same time. Now that more people are working from home, rush hour is becoming less predictable and can happen during the daytime, as remote workers connect and collaborate through online methods.

You may wonder why the internet slows down during rush hour, given traffic is virtual. Just like roads, local networks that service neighborhoods can only handle a certain amount of data. Activities that require more bandwidth, like streaming movies, participating in online gaming and joining a video conference, can create a bottleneck that results in sluggish connections for anyone. People who live in highly populated areas or who use the same internet service provider (ISP) as many of their neighbors, which is common in high-density residences like condominium or apartment complexes, may experience more network congestion because there are more users on the shared network

How fiber solves the problem

With fiber internet, data travels through beams at about 70% the speed of light. For example, downloading a two-hour HD movie with fiber optic internet would take about 85 seconds. Because of fiber’s ability to maintain optimum speed, fiber internet providers don’t need to throttle or implement data caps on users to preserve overall bandwidth. With no limits, users can connect as many devices and use as much data as they wish without worrying about internet slowdown.

Today, ISPs offer fiber optic internet speeds as high as 10 gigabits.  Most users do more downloading than uploading, which is why ISPs dedicate more of their bandwidth to downloads. Because fiber internet systems aren’t at risk of being overloaded, ISPs provide virtually the same speed for downloading and uploading, making it easier and faster to share large files with coworkers or friends.

Fiber travels faster over longer distances

Another reason that fiber internet can maintain its speed during peak times is because the signal can naturally travel a longer distance. Data traveling through fiber optic service  can go as far as 40 kilometers without requiring a booster. Fiber can easily transmit data a far distance without risk of the information breaking down along the way.

Fiber has the bandwidth to support multiple users

If you have a lot of users in your home (count up all your connected devices; you probably have more than you think!) fiber’s bandwidth, which is the measurement of your home network capacity, can meet your needs. You will have plenty of internet capacity when you’ve got gamers, streamers, social media upoaders, and you’re working from home all at the same time.

Frontier Fiber is built for the way you live today—and tomorrow

If you’re still on the lookout for the right ultra fast internet connection for streaming, gaming, working from home and running your smart home—all with enough bandwidth for everybody, find out about Frontier Fiber. Then check here to see when it’s available at your address.

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