A slight correction David; the contention ratio doesn't work quite the same way as a water supply, where the last person on the pipe would get the lowest pressure. The available bandwidth is shared evenly between all the users, so the speed drops if there are a lot of users in contention, but they all suffer the same reduction. We are lucky, in that we live in the country so there are very few people in contention with us (API drivers tend not to be internet junkies) so we don't suffer loss of speed at peak times of day.
I think the advice Angie has been given is good. It does sound rather as if the problem is the distance from the exchange, unless you are using a wireless router inside the house and it doesn't penetrate your walls well.
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