All over the world, millions of people are now adjusting to working from home as the Covid-19 pandemic spreads. That brings numerous technology frustrations, not least how to cope when internet access is patchy or not functional at all. Parts of Western Europe have seen internet traffic increase by up to 70% , while parts of the US have seen a 25% increase.

Most of this is video, which typically accounts for around 60% of consumer internet traffic under normal conditions. The pandemic has boosted the use of video for meetings, as well as the number of people streaming from Netflix during their breaks. In Europe, Netflix, Facebook, and YouTube have, therefore, agreed to reduce video quality to lighten the load.