It's not the network congestion that's causing the problem, it's the server resources. Back when I first started the site, I administered my own server. While the cost was pretty high (~$150/month) and I was on my own for updates , security, etc, but it was super fast all the time. About 6-7 months ago I switched to a shared hosting environment to cut down costs. Now I pay $50/month and I don't have to worry about anything other than running the site. The drawback is that I don't know how many other sites are on there along with me. What probably happened is that they filled it to the max and when the bigger sites on the server hit their peak traffic times it slows down everyone. IMO they are slacking in getting the bigger sites off the server and making everyone suffer.