Does cold or wet weather affect cable internet speeds? Our guide explains hows this happens and what other factors can impact on internet speed.
Find more technology guides, tips and advice
The speed of the internet and data consumption is the major deal breaker or deal maker when we subscribe to any internet service provider. In this article, we are particularly going to shed some light on the impact of weather on internet speed and how it can or cannot play out in extreme circumstances.
Internet connections explained
But, before we get to the reasons as to why weather affects cable internet speeds or why not. We first need to understand how the Internet works. A great majority of the urban American internet consumers have some sort of high-speed Internet connections, for example, Mediacom internet, usually a cable connection or an ADSL. ADSL is the types of connections that are typically offered via telecom services providers and through higher frequencies onto conventional phone lines to transfer digital data.
Meanwhile, the cable connections are offered by cable television providers and they use a similar coaxial cable that connects with the backside of your TV sets. ADSL deals with mid-range, solid performance with a very small number of descents in the average speed of the internet.
Cable service offers advanced top-end speed of the internet but could be held up if more than a few users are connected at once. Both types of connection, though, share a simple transmission method and that is electricity through the copper cables.
A few cable and internet services providers nowadays offer a latest, faster form of connection i.e. fiber-optic cable, which can provide high-speed home internet. As opposed to depending upon metal cords, fiber-optic wires use beats of light for transferring the information. This marks them less vulnerable to a lot of natural occurrences that can potentially disturb cable lines or ADSL — in simple words, weather conditions.
How does bad weather affect cable internet speeds?
A lesser amount of rain, blustery weather, or snowfall shouldn’t sway the performance of any type of Internet connection. Enormous storms, on the other hand, could become a cause for worry. Extraordinary winds could hit power lines, even though intense cold could be a reason for uneven pulls, which might even break or rip present copper wires. The extreme cold weather might also be a source of complications for electromechanical mechanisms of any connection, which include switches or breakers.
Even though copper as such has no difficulty while conveying electricity during the cold weather conditions, other arrangements depend on the provider’s side in your area might not be fit for the job. The consequence can lead to a missing connection, irregular service is a considerably sluggish experience than regular.
Furthermore, it’s likely for copper cables to short circuit if they’re worn or cracked as a result of extreme cold or heat weather. Fiber optics, in the meantime, do not arrive with this danger as they do not carry electricity.
Extreme weather conditions might as well be the unforeseen reason behind an unusually slow speed of the Internet. You need to be vigilant and keep an eye on the weather updates. You might also notice that in bad weather when people don’t want to go outside, they stay in their apartments and homes, play games, watching movies, and/or transfer music through the Internet. This increased internet demand amid poor weather could be a potential source of severe stoppage for cable consumers and might instigate a server load for ADSL users.
Wrapping up
Do weather changes affect the speed of the internet? The answer in one word is: absolutely. It does, in the course of the extreme weather changes and can also cause damage to phone, power, or cable wires could impact your internet or maybe cable connection as well, if they are linked to one another or from one provider. While a great number of simultaneous users — may be struggling to bring up-to-date weather report — perhaps it moves at a snail’s pace.
The best idea is to get in touch with the customer support of your respective cable or internet service provider, they will be able to guide you better. In case they are not aware of any issues, or no one else has reported yet, it will get checked in time and resolved accordingly. You might get it fixed instantly or it will be under process for a while, depending on demand. But either way, calling the customer service team is generally the only solution.
