Which factor contributes to network congestion?

Excessive simultaneous data requests are a significant contributor to network congestion because they can overwhelm the available bandwidth and resources of the network. When multiple users or applications attempt to send and receive large amounts of data at the same time, it can lead to increased latency and reduced overall performance as the network struggles to manage these simultaneous demands. This situation often occurs during high-traffic times when many users are online, such as during business hours or popular online events, leading to bottlenecks that slow down data transfer rates and can even cause packet loss or timeouts.

In contrast, while high-speed connections might alleviate some issues related to congestion, they do not inherently prevent excessive requests from causing strain on the network. Limited network devices might affect the efficiency of data handling but are not a direct cause of congestion in the same way as simultaneous requests are. Lastly, low usage periods typically result in less congestion, as fewer requests are being made and, therefore, the network can handle the existing load more effectively.