The current situation has raised one question in the minds of some users: Can the overuse of the Internet crash it? No, this cannot happen! In this post, we will try to answer some questions that may be lingering in your mind.
Over the last few years, we have witnessed a sudden increase in the number of people who want to know whether this will break the Internet. These days many people work from home, and the Internet has become the main, if not the only, source of entertainment for most.
Can overuse bring down the whole Internet?
The answer to that question is NO! If an online service or website is overloaded with traffic, that particular website or online service could crash, but not the Internet. Overuse cannot bring down the whole Internet. When bandwidth consumption increases exponentially, from a demand and supply perspective, the speed can reduce. The more users there are online, the less speed you will get normally.
To better understand this, first, we need to understand how the Internet works.
How does the Internet work?
The Internet is not dependent on a single computer or a cable. It is a combination of several independent networks and computers. All the connecting computers and cables together can be considered the Internet, so for the whole Internet to crash all the computers would have to crash and the connecting cables cut. The Internet is too big and decentralized to fail all at once. That is near-impossible!
Individuals, businesses, and governments largely govern, control, and maintain these networks. If one part of the network stops working, users will still be able to access the Internet.
Is there absolutely no problem at all?
The network’s lack of capacity is not really a problem to begin with. However, the large number of users using the Internet induces performance slowdown. Mobile internet services are often the most affected, unlike fixed broadband ones, due to a sudden rush of people using the mobile Internet.
The Internet often experiences outages in difficult times and events such as major power blackouts, during which multiple networks and computers go out of service simultaneously.
Macro events like earthquakes, damage to underwater or overland cables, damage to space satellites, large solar activity, large power outages, nuclear war, targeted cyberwar, etc., could theoretically cause sections of the Internet to crash. But this will not shut down the Internet!
Several years back, Asia experienced a series of earthquakes that damaged undersea cables, resulting in major Internet-related issues in some parts of the world. However, the rest of the world continues to have access to the Internet.
Governments can swing into action
To endure the ever-increasing demand in the present pandemic, the European Commission has asked OTT streaming services such as Netflix and YouTube to reduce their system demands on European web networks. The purpose is simple. OTT streaming and Internet companies must ensure that their services remain uninterrupted during the state of lockdown.
According to Internet speed test firm Ookla, mobile broadband download speeds drastically declined in many Asian countries since the pandemic. Meanwhile, fixed broadband internet services didn’t take much of a hit.
As more users come online, these companies need to be capable of accommodating the additional burden. Major technology companies cannot afford to face an outage at the moment, given that most of the major companies are facing a shortage of employees working from offices.
The bottom line
According to reports, Internet usage has almost doubled in many parts of the world since the pandemic. In challenging situations where everything around us comes to a standstill, more aspects of our daily lives naturally the digital route. In fact, remote work platforms like Microsoft Teams and Zoom continue to witness increased demand.
In India, an ISP told us that consumption could go up 80% in a situation where everyone is staying at home. Plus, the majority (90% +) of users access the Internet between 9 a.m. and 11 p.m. (IST)! Many customers also upgrade their existing broadband plans, which often stretch the bandwidth to a significant extent.
However, in such a scenario, most Network Service Providers (NSPs) increase the overall bandwidth, which helps ISPs handle the additional load.
Meanwhile, millions of people worldwide are now connecting to the Internet from the comfort of their kitchens, living rooms, and home offices every day. As a result, the demand for uninterrupted Internet services continues to skyrocket.
Be a responsible netizen, and don’t create or share digital junk!
