Broadband performance dips amid coronavirus lockdown

Matt Maynard • 16 Apr 2020

Been experiencing slow internet? This could be why.

Broadband networks across the United Kingdom have experienced a performance lag as more people are spending their time online and on streaming services thanks to the lockdown. 

Since the lockdown began, SamKnows reported that internet service providers have reported sufferance in both download speed and latency times since the coronavirus lockdown began, with changes around -2 & to -3% on average.  

Most networks are built to withstand many times above their normal load, which is why the drop in download speed and latency times probably isn’t as large as you’d think, but it’s certainly large enough to notice a difference when you’re used to a certain speed. 

People are either working from home on PCs using up the network, or are at home not working and watching movies and television series on multiple streaming devices. With thousands of people all trying to do the same thing, and with everyone not allowed to go out and socialise, slowing internet speeds is a given. 

However, despite these claims, Openreach, who run most of the UK’s network infrastructure, have said the network is already built to handle peak demand, such as the one we are experiencing in lockdown. 

BT's chief technology officer, Howard Watson, said: "We have more than enough capacity in our UK broadband network to handle mass-scale homeworking.

"Even if the same heavy data traffic that we see each evening were to run throughout the daytime, there is still enough capacity for work applications to run simultaneously."

So despite some people reporting slow speeds, it’s reassuring to know the network is prepped to handle the surge in activity, and it won’t be cutting out any time soon!

Source: BBC News