Internet traffic on the weekends, less than weekdays?

[KevinMU1]

Have there been any formal studies done on Internet traffic on the weekend? On every web site I've ever had, traffic is lower on the weekends, but I'm just wondering if it's the type of surfing people do, where they do the surfing, or if Internet use is just plain down on the weekends. Does anyone have any knowledge about this?

 

[Freejack2]

Ever try to head to the mall or the nearby resort type place on the weekend? Looks like rush hour right?
Same thing on the internet. On the weekend it's the same traffic madhouse but going to different places.

 

[KevinMU1]

During the week, traffic is more business oriented, and during the weekend, more leisure oriented?

However, isn't it possible that some people might have access at work but not home--thus also changing usage patterns on certain sites?

 

[hx009]

<< During the week, traffic is more business oriented, and during the weekend, more leisure oriented?

However, isn't it possible that some people might have access at work but not home--thus also changing usage patterns on certain sites? >>



Back when I used to run an E-Commerce site selling hardware, there was definately more traffic during the week than during the weekend. There'd be huge spikes of traffic around noon on the east coast, then noon on the west coast..... then it'd start to die off around 2:00PM and continue to fall until a resurge around 6:00-7:00PM. Sunday was always the slowest day of the week (both in terms of traffic and sales).

 

[MisterPresident]

With my MSN dialup (

) I always get faster speeds on weekdays, compared to weekends. What about all you broadband people? I'd think that everyone would be slower during "prime time" 8-10 ish, but what are your experiences?

 

[KevinMU1]

So, it seems that business sites take the hit on the weekend, but what about other types of sites, like slashdot, or AT, or anything else?

I have a University as my ISP, so I'm a horrible judge for a common broadband experience, but nights are always bad and mornings are always good.

 

[Fritzo]

I work for a national ISP, and here's the trends we see (it's suprising!)

Friday nights + Saturdays have the lowest usage,and Sunday morning is DEAD. Wednesday and Thursday nights have the highest usage for some reason.

 

[Lvis]

Back when I had a 14.4 modem, and used to dream of a 28.8, the best time to surf was when seinfeld was on, thursday nights. Those were the days... now i watch him on reruns to see what I missed.

 

[HappyPuppy]

Everybody is at home on weekends and surf the p0rn sites because they're afraid to do it at work.

 

[Smolek]

yup, gotta be higher on the weekends.

 

[BlueApple]

Net Usage Snapshot <--- Some pretty interesting sites

 

[KevinMU1]

Thursday nights are still probably good--everyone's watching Survivor and CSI.

 

[Valhalla1]

i think i heard somewhere the busiest day on the internet is the day after christmas... everyone's firing up that new PC to sign on to their new AOL account

*barf*

 

[Valhalla1]

<< Net Usage Snapshot <--- Some pretty interesting sites >>



from link #1 on that site - "Top 20 Markets Based on Internet Penetration"


hmm.. Internet Penetration. sounds kinky

 

[KevinMU1]

Now now, all those post-Christmas signups aren't AOL, some of them are MSN, c'mon.

 

[KevinMU1]

Just to clarify... your ISP caters to mostly home users, I assume?

 

[Supermercado]

I'm sure this is the case at every other university, but where I go to school, the internet traffic is much more during the week than it is over the weekends. During the week, everyone has things to do that require the use of the internet. On the weekend, everyone is out drinking and partying, etc., so all of us computer geeks have the line to ourselves until Sunday evening when everyone decides that they need to do some work before Monday morning.

 

[CrazyDe1]

I'd agree with the assertion that weekdays especially wednesday and thursday nights...this is from ebay experience. I always get higher prices on wednesday or thursday than I d o on saturdays or sundays...I have to keep remindin myself to stop selling on friday and saturday nights. Sunday night isn't as bad but not nearly as good as a weekday. On a sidenote, traffic does pickup around noon becuase people surf at work and everyones at work. Then people start going home, and then it picksu p again at night. I've always decided to sell and end my auctions at night...around 9:30-10:30 eastern time...I've also been debatin whether or not to end them around noon eastern time....

 

[KevinMU1]

CrazyDe1--Thanks for the observations on ebay, that is very interesting. However, that's only ebay traffic, and that's not going to capture the usage pattern of all internet users. I wonder if, statistically speaking, it would be a good indication. I have no idea how to go about testing that though... but I'll take what I can get. Thanks all, I'm really just trying to satisfy my curiosity, it's not like I need hard facts, it's just something I've wondered about for a while.