Hello PHK,
Welcome to the community!
You're correct in that more people using data can indeed reduce speeds for everyone. However, there are many factors which can affect data speeds.
Since you live in a rural area, your location relative to the cellular towers could affect cellular signal and data transmission.
~taken from here.
In addition, the frequency at which your phone is connected could also have bearing on data speeds. The lower frequencies (ie 700MHz) can travel further and penetrate deeper than higher frequencies (ie 2600MHz) (see graphic here). However, the lower frequencies also have less potential bandwidth (see table here; note that Fido no longer uses band 17).
Most of the rural cellular towers surrounding that area do not appear to use band 7 or 2600MHz. Depending on your location relative to the cellular towers, you may be using either band 4 (1700/2100MHz) or band 12 (700MHz) for LTE. What phone are you using? Does it have all of the compatible bands/frequencies? You can verify the compatible bands/frequencies here.
Furthermore, signal strength could also affect data transmission. According to here, -100 dB is still required for data transfer to occur while maintaining the 4G or LTE speeds. Your 1-2 bars would suggest a signal strength of approximately -106 dB to -110 dB, where higher numbers represent worse signal (different phones may have varying ranges for the bar representations). Had you always had 1-2 bars of signal?
As you may have guessed, there are also many factors which can affect cellular signal. In addition to location relative to the cellular towers, the signals are prone to interference. Could there be any new obstructions between your location and the cellular towers since December 2019? The cities are usually more prone to new obstructions as more taller buildings get built, however, I suppose it's still possible in a rural setting as well.
Hope this helps 😀
Cheers
