If I download stuff from the internet does it affect the internet connection of all the computers in our house?

[just me]

Sooo I have my own laptop in my room and my brother always uses the one we have for the whole family,we both use the same internet.

The thing is that my brother always starts complaining and accusing me because the internet is slow. He's always like "are you downloading something ? the internet is so slow !! "..i just don't get it,because even when i'm not downloading anything he still complains to me how the internet is laggy. If he downloads something it doesn't affect the internet for me..I think that it really doesn't matter if you're downloading something or not,the internet connection should be about the same,it shouldn't affect it too much,am i totally wrong?..

I'm getting tired of him always blaming me for the same thing over and over again,i never complain to him because i don't see a reason to.How can i tell him that it's not all about me downloading stuff,it could be other stuff that affects the internet connection as well?..

[Gordon M]

Don't worry!

It will only affect your computer or Laptop that you are using to download.

I don't think it will slow down your Internet Connection, although it depends how fast your Internet is!

[marcus]

Depends on the type of internet connections you use - as well as the equipment involved in connecting to the internet. Using a wireless connection will be slower than a landline connection, but when you have to start using a router to cater for more than one connection in the same house then obviously demands are made on the router to allow for more than one user to have data continuously relayed from one computer to another. Several other factors are included - most of these are to do with network topologies (they have funny little names like 'Bus', 'Ring'. 'star' etc),
It is feasible to think that maybe your laptop connection to the internet using that router is making things slower, but then your brother being on the internet is only likely to have the same effect on you! If you are both using a wireless connection to the internet, you need to get closer to the router in order to achieve a better signal and a better transfer rate as a result.