Home Lifestyle How the weather affects your internet and what to do about it

How the weather affects your internet and what to do about it

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Winter is here and we have been feeling the brunt of it. To make matters worse, you might even run into more connectivity issues than usual. However, the rain and wind is not always to blame.

File picture: Pixabay

Winter is here and we have been feeling the brunt of it. To make matters worse, you might even run into more connectivity issues than usual. However, the rain and wind is not always to blame.

Rainfall may create interference but interruption due to distance from the router is a much more likely culprit for low signal strength.

In addition to that, high internet traffic could also be to blame.

When it is raining cats and dogs, more people are stuck at home and unwilling to go out. Therefore, they are more likely to be online, whether it is for entertaining themselves by surfing, streaming and even gaming.

While copper and fibre optic wires aren’t susceptible to the cold, ground heaves may damage or tear underground wires. Ground heaves are caused by extremely low temperatures. On the flip side of the coin, high temperatures can cause your equipment (e.g. router, modem) to overheat.

It is worth noting that an overheated Wi-Fi system may function a bit slower than usual.

Large storms can cause physical damage to internet infrastructure. Trees can could fall onto power lines, debris can knock over satellite dishes and floodwaters can seep into electrical systems.

So what should you do if the weather affects you internet service?

You can try resetting your router and/or modem. Once you have done this, unplug them and wait for a moment before plugging them back in.

As mentioned before, distance from the router is huge factor so it is advisable to move to your router.

It also helps to check your devices. If your laptop is connecting but your phone is not, the issue may be related to your device instead of your network.

IOL TECH

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