@dragonarchitect @DeltaWye @torproject But yeah, to offer even simpler analogies for and "#TechIlliterates":
Consider your Internet connection like driveways or drive-in with in-going (download) and outgoiung (upload) connections.
The wider (faster) the lane (bandwith) the bigger and heavier vehicles can drive in faster to reach the loading bay (device).
And data doesn't get mixed up because every data packet - like a real life package - has it's own shipping label that enshures your router and any device using the same internet connection knows this if from/to said device and even application.
All one can do is make things slow down due to parallel use - just like when multiple delivery companies arrive at the same house or even same person and they've to stand in line delivering their packages: The Amazon package won't fuse together with the eBay package or Newegg package... They all are comparmentalized to the point that like with an Apartment complex, the tennant on the top floor won't even know that someone rang the bell at the 2nd floor and now someone's getting a fridge delivered: They may only see the "slowdown" in that the delivery will likely occupy the elevator or staircase for a few mins if they happen to use them at the same time.
It's like a set of escalators with asymetric speeds being more escalators down (load) than up (load): Worst-case people stand in line to get on the stairs or wheelchair users wait in line for the elevator...
And TCP/IP even has automatic measures in place to enshure packages arrive at their desination intact and complete, and if in doubt will resend a package upon request.
That's why even *unstable and slow+ internet connections just feel slower, not broken unless they loose the majority of packages.
Which is my mobile networks tend to throttle customers not by negotiating a slower bandwith but merely dropping "excess packets" and avoid congestion down to literal traffic managment...
So yeah, #TCPIP is very rugged and stable and designed to handle said speed issues just fine - kinda like a small residential road will merely experience a slowdown when a big truck parks on the roadside to unload a ton of furniture for a move-in: It doesn't result in the bypassers having chairs loged into their widscreens or their passengers end up inside the boxtruck, and unlike the real-life analogy they can't even purposefully attempt that.
In fact, most CPEs aka. "Routers" offered by ISPs do even go so far as to prioritize traffic and prevent a single device from occupying all the bandwith, going as far as to actively reduce lower-priority traffic bandwith in favour of VoIP and IPTV streaming: Kinda like intelligent traffic lights or a traffic warden / traffic police officer will deliberately slow down if not stop traffic to let emergency vehicles with lights and sirens pass through...
And that all happens transparently in the background: Just like any postal / parcel delivery service will automatically prioritize express / overnight / airmail deliveries and expedite them over regular shipments.
Feel free to pick whatever feels the most appropriate analogy, because the Internet isn't like domestic water piping where one shared heater can result in someone flushing the toilet causing the sower to get hot, but instead only reduce the output of water at the showerhead.
