When's your home broadband connection the slowest? That's right, when you come back home from a busy day at work - between 7pm and 9pm.

A new study, conducted by uSwitch.com found that the difference between peak times and non-peak times can reach up to a third.

For instance, in the odd hours of the night (say 3AM) average broadband speeds are likely to be roughly 9.6Mbps, compared to 6.2Mbps which households get on average in the evening.

The situation gets worse for some who can spot a 70 per cent difference, meaning that they could get speeds of 15Mbps off-peak, but as soon as busy hours hit, that would decline to a measly 4.9Mbps - and Evesham (Worcestershire) is no stranger to this.

A spokesman for Uswitch.com, Ernest Doku, commented on the findings:

"This research may help to shed some light on why many bewildered consumers, who believe they've signed up to a certain broadband speed, never actually feel like their connection is fast enough."

Advertising watchdog, ASA, has put together a new set of rules when advertising broadband download speeds, as these often mislead consumers into thinking they would get the headline speed, which was rarely the case.

"Not many internet users enjoy the maximum headline broadband speeds offered by providers, and certainly not during the working week," Mr Doku raised a valid point.