Everyone assumes that a poor internet connection can be caused by a bad cable, a cheap internet plan, or a router that is too far away. However, many people forget that the weather can play an important role in the quality of your internet connection! Because Internet connections are more complicated than your router and the cables in our homes. There are many networking devices, cables, and connections between our homes and the websites we browse. An Internet connection may involve various types of the physical links, including the copper wire used in the ancient telephone network and more modern fiber optic connections. There may also be wireless connections, such as WIFI, microwave, and satellite radio.
In fact, temperatures and rain can affect the quality of the signal that reaches us. Radio signals are absorbed by raindrops and if your router is in range of rain, the signal can be interrupted. As for the temperature, it affects the hardware, not the signal. That is, if the temperature is too high or too low, this makes the device work harder and thus results in a weak signal and slow internet.
The effect of winter on the quality of your internet connection
Rain can cause physical damage to cables, especially when telecom networks use older infrastructure. For example, connections of the ADSL type, which use the old landline telephone network, are particularly susceptible to this type of interference. As we know, a large portion of internet cables are underground, so if a flood occurs, moisture can get into the cables or their connectors.
This can greatly interfere with signals or even prevent them from passing through altogether, by reducing bandwidth or causing a short circuit. But it's not just your home connection that can be affected. Even wireless signals outside a home or building can be affected by rainfall as the water droplets themselves can partially absorb the signal, which can result in reduced coverage. Imagine this! Even after the rain has stopped, the effects can still be felt. High humidity can continue to affect the strength of wireless signals and may cause slower connection speeds.
But there is also a human behavior factor! When winter comes and it rains, more people may decide to stay indoors or work from home. This inevitably leads to an increase in network usage and pressure. When a large number of people increase their use of the Internet, the limited bandwidth available will simply be used up quickly, resulting in significant slowdowns.
The effect of heat waves and wind on the quality of your Internet connection
Being too cold isn't usually a major concern. Heat is perhaps a more common problem. Our networking equipment is likely to run slower when exposed to extreme heat. Even cables can suffer damage that may affect connectivity. To bring the idea closer to our minds, imagine, for example, that the computer fan is not working and that the computer is heating up and its temperature is rising; It will fail and may eventually break. While the hardware itself may be fine, the power supply is likely to struggle. This same issue can affect the networking equipment that controls our internet connection.
Satellite Internet services for users in rural areas can also be vulnerable to severe weather conditions, as satellite signals have to travel long distances in the air and are therefore more vulnerable to weather conditions. Radio signals are not usually affected by wind, but devices such as satellite dishes can oscillate, vibrate, bend, or be moved by the wind. But for most users, the impact of rain will be minor unless they're physically affected by a major issue like flooded cables or trying to use Wi-Fi outside during a storm.
Even sometimes, we expect that the mere alternation of day and night affects the quality of our internet connection, because of the very slow internet we notice at night! But hey, it's not like that. Rather, most of the time, human behavior and the increase in the number of users within one domain is the main reason.
So if your favorite series on an online platform is running slow during rainy weather at night hours, the behavior of other humans hiding in their homes and busy with the Internet, just like you, is to blame!