What those folks are experiencing simply describes shared bandwidth. Consumer grade satellite providers - Wildblue is no exception - grossly oversell their bandwidth, betting against the odds of all subscribers happening to be using their connections simultaneously. That said, there are internet peak usage periods - anywhere between say 1600 and maybe 2400. These "slowdowns" almost certainly consistent with congestion.

The amount of satellite bandwidth available is a constant, the number of folks that use it (simultaneously) is not. The more folks online at the same time, the less bandwidth there is for each. Reduced bandwidth availability is reflected in slower speeds.

It's a fact of life with consumer grade satcom. There's little else you can do - short of having an unbiased and knowledgeable person evaluate the SVT data. Unfortunately that's difficult for customers to get from Wildblue, the easiest was is to ask an installer to get it for you. Unfortunately not all of them know how to interpret the results as relates to whether or not a mechanical fix is called for.

//greg//