I was considering switching broadband providers, but then I started
reading the small print and it mentions contention. I remember this from
the old days, it meant the speed could drop at popular times. The
typical practice was to sell more bandwidth than they had and hope
people didn't use it. But as far as I know I have not had any contention
on my broadband for years, and I watch Netflix every evening with no
problems. Is contention as big an issue as it used to be? How do I know
how bad the contention is going to be before I sign up? Does it mean
contention with other users of the same ISP, or contention on the
internet generally?

I am using ADSL, fibre is not an option.

Richmond wrote:
> I was considering switching broadband providers, but then I started
> reading the small print and it mentions contention. I remember this from
> the old days, it meant the speed could drop at popular times. The
> typical practice was to sell more bandwidth than they had and hope
> people didn't use it. But as far as I know I have not had any contention
> on my broadband for years, and I watch Netflix every evening with no
> problems. Is contention as big an issue as it used to be? How do I know
> how bad the contention is going to be before I sign up? Does it mean
> contention with other users of the same ISP, or contention on the
> internet generally?
>
> I am using ADSL, fibre is not an option.

In your case contention occurs between your local exchange and your
service provider. It may be limited by hardware resources in the
exchange. It will be limited by your ISP, according to the package
you've bought and the nature of your ISP.

You could ring your prospective ISP and ask.

But I don't think it's been a serious issue on landlines for perhaps 10
years now. By contrast it is usually quite serious for 3G/4G/5G
connections, and is very dependent on geography, perversely, in that
remote Scottish islands often have better service than the UK mainland.

--
Graham J

Graham J <nobody@nowhere.co.uk> wrote:
> In your case contention occurs between your local exchange and your
> service provider. It may be limited by hardware resources in the
> exchange. It will be limited by your ISP, according to the package
> you've bought and the nature of your ISP.
>
> You could ring your prospective ISP and ask.
>
> But I don't think it's been a serious issue on landlines for perhaps 10
> years now.

Also, it's not very hard in the backend to deliver the ~10Mbps ADSL traffic
these days - the switches will be 10G or more nowadays, so your part of that
connection is a tiny trickle. I would be more worried about contention on
gigabit FTTP.

Essentially, given that you're sipping from a straw, the size of the
firehose doesn't really limit you.

> By contrast it is usually quite serious for 3G/4G/5G connections, and is
> very dependent on geography, perversely, in that remote Scottish islands
> often have better service than the UK mainland.

Presumably because there are many fewer users sharing the same backhaul in a
remote area as there are in an urban area.

Theo

Theo wrote:

[snip]
>
> Presumably because there are many fewer users sharing the same backhaul in a
> remote area as there are in an urban area.

No, my unfortunate experience is with 3G/4G/5G in very rural Norfolk,
which is far slower than on the Shetland Isles.

--
Graham J