DSL Internet slow in evenings

For the past 3-4 weeks I have been experiencing slow Internet speeds starting in the evenings (normally around 7pm, but sometimes as early as 5pm) and normal again in the mornings. These speeds have been as slow at 6 kb/s.

I have called my ISP (Bell Aliant) and the following things have been done, with no results:

• Modem reset
• Plugging directly into the modem instead of going through the router first
• The line has been tested by a technician
• The connection on the poll which runs to the house has been checked
• Disconnected old phone jacks that could have been causing interference on the line

Here is a capture of my modems's administration panel:

Are the numbers under dropped and errors significant?

Is it possible there is an environmental cause for this, seeing as how it happens in the evenings? Let me know if I can provide any more information that could be helpful.

Solution 1:

It's because your ISP has (badly) oversubscribed the line in your area. In the evenings everybody is else using their computer too so the available bandwidth drops.

This is a very common practise that ISP's like to keep on the quiet so of course the tech support isn't going to mention it.

Solution 2:

Since I know that our company is not, or usually not, over subscribed, I tend to find other faults.

On several occasions I have seen problems with customers using wireless routers with no security. I actually checked out this one customer at his prem and determined 5 nieghbours were getting free internet using his router. 2 of them were downloading big time. So during the day neighbors were at school or work.

I have also seen customers who dont realize that if there are other users in the house all on line at the same time that can restrict usage.