Why your internet may be slower than normal during COVID-19

By Mike Renzella

The Haldimand Press

HALDIMAND—We’ve all experienced it: it’s the middle of the movie, an action-packed scene is playing out on your TV set, and then out of nowhere, the picture quality drops and you find yourself staring at a buffering icon.

As more people find themselves staying home, the demand on local internet networks has grown significantly in a short amount of time.

“Execulink has seen network demand increase in the range of 30 to 40%. To combat any capacity constraints, we are upgrading our distribution and core networks to keep up with demand,” said Ian Stevens, CEO of Execulink Telecom. “We pride ourselves on being transparent with our challenges, which is something we have done since day one. Many of our customers recognize and understand that there is strain on the infrastructure due to an increased capacity of users. We continue to remind our customers that we are working to keep homes and essential service businesses connected to the best of our ability.”

Jason Bain, Operations Manager for local service provider Detour Wireless, said, “On our network, everything is very clean. Where it could be better would be our peak hours from 8 to 10 p.m. when everyone is home. There’s no sports on TV and no one is going out. Everyone is sitting down to enjoy a movie.”

Detour Wireless designed its service to operate with at least 15% extra capacity above peak usage to ensure a smooth user experience. However, with a lack of other options for customers, Detour has been seeing usage soar to 30% above typical peak capacity.