The Internet Needs Your Help

Snerdguy · March 21, 2020

As you should know buy now, we are in an very unprecedented situation with the Covid-19 virus. Huge numbers of people have to isolate themselves all over the world and it is putting a tremendous strain on the Internet. There isn't enough bandwidth to go around and many people can't get online at all which is a very bad thing since they get important information from there. Many are working at home and doing schoolwork online. What I am asking is for you gamers to conserve as much bandwidth as you can so there is enough to go around. Even if you have a high capacity connection, the servers and the world wide network can handle only so much bandwidth at a time. Netflix is temporarily reducing the bandwidth of their movies in Europe and it probably won't be long before content providers have to do so here also.

You don't have give up gaming. Just try to find ways to use less bandwidth. Turn off apps that you don't need. Turn your computer off when you aren't using it because some use bandwidth even when they aren't being used. Use a lower resolution when you watch movies and videos. You guys are technical people and should know a lot of tricks to cut back. Because, if you don't, the Internet might have to rationed. The situation has gotten very bad in some places to a point where people can only get on sporadically. It's so bad where I live that I barely had enough online time to post this.

Thank You for your help.

WereCatf · March 21, 2020

2 minutes ago, Snerdguy said:

You don't have give up gaming. Just try to find ways to use less bandwidth. Turn off apps that you don't need. Turn your computer off when you aren't using it because some use bandwidth even when they aren't being used. Use a lower resolution when you watch movies and videos. You guys are technical people and should know a lot of tricks to cut back. Because, if you don't, the Internet might have to rationed. The situation has gotten very bad in some places to a point where people can only get on sporadically. It's so bad where I live that I barely had enough online time to post this.

No. Me using the Internet is extremely unlikely to have any effect on your or other people's use, let alone anything actually important. The Internet isn't a single pipe, the data may travel via a million different pathways, most of which will not be even close to choking.

Windows7ge · March 21, 2020

The Internet doesn't work like that. If you have trouble connecting the only applicable connections would be those most local to you. Everyone on a continent could be online all at once but you're not going to feel it on another continent unless you try to access a server on their continent.

If you're having trouble getting online at all you should complain to your neighbors not a forum.

LogicalDrm · March 21, 2020

*** Thread locked ***

If you want to discuss about COVID-19 and its effects, you can do it in here:

As for internet getting crowded... Thats not really going to be issue. The connections are through ISPs and they can choose to limit brandwidth in order to make sure their infrastructure is enough. Games use actually very little part of brandwidth. You can easily game on 2mbps connection. Its all the video streaming to and from you which is issue. Just read up on Netflix lowering their quality in Europe for example.