Will the Coronavirus slow down my Internet connection?
As you can imagine we are swamped with requests to connect remotely and about the effects of the Coronavirus on the Internet. The good news is the we are all already using a lot of data with our cable cutting and our addition to content.
Some providers may be strained. remote workers may see slower response time from their providers depending on infrastructure. There are too many variable to give a yes or no answer. So the residential bandwidth will most likely be the weakest link with many still using copper connections back to a centralized hub.
In general, the type of “remote work” access is generally fairly lean. For example, most companies will use Remote Deskop (RDP) which compresses data. Even users that use the popular and safer Virtual Provate Network (VPN) most likely don’t spend their entire day getting and sending huge amounts of data. You typically get a file, work on it and save it.
How do I know if I am affected?
You may see dropped frames in games or videos. Your remote conferences may have bad video or audio.
Also see our Contingency plans article