Northwestel hopes to fix slow internet in Yellowknife by tonight

Northwestel says it hopes to fix a problem that's causing on-again-off-again slow internet service for as many as 500 cable internet customers in Yellowknife by tonight.

The company says since Aug. 20 it's received around 90 complaints from customers with whom the company has already gone through troubleshooting exercises, only to see those customers experience slow internet speeds again.

"It was really the accumulating of those situations that started to twig us onto the fact that we had a wider issue," said Paul Gillard, Northwestel's director of network operations.

The company hopes to fix the problem by late Wednesday night. But the root of the problem remains unclear, Gillard said.

"The truth is, if we really knew what the cause was, we'd have it fixed. We do have our suspicions."

Ironically, recent changes to the network made with the aim of improving internet service may be contributing to the problem, says Gillard, though Northwestel has also cited "downstream congestion"— lots of downloading — as another potential factor.

Gillard says the company has been aware of four areas sprinkled throughout Yellowknife where a high amount of downloading is causing slow speeds, though he declined to cite which areas.

"It's our responsibility to build a network that provides the capacity that customers require to do whatever they want with," said Gillard.  "And if they want to use it like crazy, then use it like crazy, as long as it's within...your package or you're willing to pay for it."