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How and Why Bad Weather Affects Your Internet Connection

Ever noticed interruptions in your internet connection when the weather is bad? It turns out that every type of internet connection is affected differently by various types of bad weather. Let's find out if the link between bad weather and bad internet is just a coincidence or a real scientific fact. But more importantly, let's see what can be done to ensure smooth connectivity when you need it most - stuck home in the storm.
 

Indoor WiFi Router

Laptop and smartphone connected to WiFi via router

If your connection to the worldwide web comes from a router situated safely inside your home, you're generally not affected by any type of weather. Usually, the climate inside the home is conditioned to be optimal. Only in cases of extreme heat or humidity will your connection be severed. Humidity can affect the speed with which the signal travels through your house, while extreme heat (again, unlikely even with central heating) can cause the router itself to overheat.

The thing that affects your router on bad weather days is most likely traffic. Just like yourself, everyone else is also surfing the web instead of the ocean. An online connection isn't reserved for the phone and the computer anymore. Watching TV and listening to ambient music all day long also happens online, and that takes a toll on internet servers.

If there's public WiFi in open areas in your city, it may be affected specifically by rain. According to Techwalla, raindrops absorb the 2.4-GHz frequency, upon which many wireless setups rely. The closer you are to the router, the steadier your signal will be.

Cable or Satellite Internet

Satellite global internet web

If your internet is cable- or satellite-based, it is easily affected by the bad weather. Satellite signals can't penetrate dense, solid objects, that includes trees or heavy rain.

In the case of cables, they can simply break during a prolonged freeze. Surprisingly enough, fog, snow, and hail won't have a significant effect on your internet, as they aren't as dense as rain. The water doesn't absorb the signal, but rather breaks and scatters it.

Possible Solutions

Woman frustrated with her laptop
The weather comes and goes, but your internet connection doesn't have to be that way too. Here are some tips:
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