The internet is currently a vital part of our day-to-day, so failures in it immediately impact our performance - and sometimes our spirits as well. In the midst of a situation like the current coronavirus pandemic, in which we are all confined to our homes, the role of the internet in our lives has become even more noticeable.

Now, this has become the tool we use both to study, work and distract ourselves, and to keep in touch with the world constantly. However, in recent months the entire world has been experiencing a phenomenon in which the connection speed has decreased globally.

Complaints have been raised from all over the planet regarding low connection speeds. This is coming from the coronavirus, like many other changes in the world. In this case, the quarantines that have been established have forced us to stay at home and, in one way or another, to magnify our consumption of web connections.

Why has coronavirus slowed down the internet?

Basically, it was a side effect that we couldn't have anticipated. As we have mentioned, quarantine has completely changed the way we consume content on the internet.

And in fact, it has also changed the way we share them. Since, now we are also much more active in generating and sending data, instead of just receiving it.

Consequently, our demand for web capabilities has increased dramatically. Because of this, the pressure on the signal transmission systems increases as well and makes them prone to failure. Those, in turn, manifest themselves as connection failures and slow internet load capacities.

Will the internet break because of the coronavirus?

At the moment, the companies that are dedicated to operating in this area and providing these services do not see it that way. Indeed, they have reported significant increases in the demand for their connections and in their usage patterns.

They have also faced constant customer complaints from certain areas where the connection has consistently failed. However, they do not consider this to be a sign of alarm. In his opinion, the main areas or the "core" of the internet is still capable of withstanding the pressure that has been imposed on it.

Business areas have not been so affected
In general, connection systems that require operation under high demand and constant use have been built with fiber optics. It is capable of offering higher connection speeds, greater bandwidth and better resistance to long periods of sustained use.

Because of this, most large companies and educational entities have designed their connection systems with these materials. That's why, even now, their networks don't seem to be affected as much - moreover, with fewer people at work than at home, connections have been particularly loosed.

Urban areas have not been so lucky

The other side of this coin is then the residential areas. These have now become the bases of operations for millions of workers worldwide. Thus, suburban areas are expected to be able to respond with the same speed and capabilities as business.

Unfortunately, these are not designed for this. Your older connection systems typically have copper cables instead of fiber optics. As a consequence, when the entire neighborhood connects to a video conference, tries to stream a video, and monitors COVID-19 on all existing social networks, the system crashes.

The dilemma of videoconferencing

Furthermore, usually these connectivity structures were built when the only signal that was transmitted was that of television. Therefore, they are also not able to adequately respond to the amount of data that is now generated by users and that must also go through the web.

In particular, videoconferences ask these archaic connection systems for exactly what they cannot offer. Due to what, when that chat is started by Zoom, there are immediately connection problems, lag and sudden exits from the session due to the instability of the internet.

How to survive this?

Some experts have recommended that work be done in parallel with the two data transmission and transmission systems that exist: the internet and telephone networks. They have commented that, as the latter are less in demand, perhaps they could offer a better connectivity experience. Furthermore, if this measure were adopted uniformly, or at least in its majority, in residential areas, the result would be a decrease in pressure on connection structures and at least a small improvement in the quality of the internet.