If your internet connection slows down, you usually blame your system or your server. But it could also be the weather: The internet may slow down when the weather is cold.
In Wired.com, Cliff Kuang asked some engineers about this, and they replied that temperature could affect the conductivity of the copper wires in the system, since the electrical conductivity of a metal falls as the temperature rises, meaning that cold weather would slow things down (it turns out that most of the world’s cable is made out of copper). But Kuang quotes engineer Doug Webster as saying that “the infrastructure is engineered to counter those effects.”
Or the internet could run faster in the summer simply due to the fact that fewer people are using it, because they’re outside enjoying the weather instead of sitting indoors at their computers. The data support this theory to some extent: September, when everyone is back in school and back at work, is the most sluggish month for the web.
Kuang quotes computer coach Joe Robinson as saying, “I can cite eight studies indicating that performance and productivity go up after vacation.”
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