Yes, it's a fact, the children are big Internet users and the worldwide web does slow down locally when the children head for home.
Here in Italy the issue is that the Italian network is over subscribed and under developed, so this make the problem even worse for many users.
You may hear the word "Pipe" mentioned with regard to the Internet and in many ways you can think of your service as a pipe - a pipe full of data, rather than water!
When you use a water tap in your home and no one else is at home, you get a good flow of water, but if someone turns on another tap, the flow decreases in your tap, try having a shower and then someone else turns on the hot tap in another part of your house and you will see what I mean!
So your Internet supplier probably did not tell you that you share your Internet with 10's or 100's of other homes locally to you and when the other homes start using the Internet, your flow of data can drop massively.
Even worse, there is a great temptation for Internet suppliers to cram as many people as possible on to a service (to get as much profit as possible from the deal) and of course if your internet is shared with i.e 100 homes, during the day, the service may be fine, but in the evening when each house has one or two children and perhaps mum and dad using the Internet, it is easy for your little pipe to become a trickle when 400 people are trying to use it at the same time.
So - what is the answer?
First of all - take the headline speed quoted by the sales blurb with a "pinch of salt" - speeds are always "up to" and they will vary, every second and minute of the day.
Make sure you sign up to a provider that guarantees a maximum number of users - ideally 50 or under on your "circuit".
Is it possible not to have to share? Yes in deed, but what is called 1:1 contention is very expensive, basically in reality the more you pay, the better the Internet.
I get "I pay 30 euro a month for unlimited internet" said to me on occasion, but an unlimited trickle after 5pm is not really unlimited is it? In reality it is very limited by its ability to supply!
Just for fun try testing your speed between 6pm and 7pm - you will find that the speed is a lot slower than advertised - click here to try www.speedtest.net