Working remotely? Don’t panic if you can’t always connect online.

One of the unforeseen challenges we’re experiencing during this temporary time of change is a limitation of digital bandwidth.

Microsoft Office (including Microsoft Teams) failed for a short period of time due to the sheer numbers of people using digital video services. That affected all operations, including email and web apps. Zoom – the video conferencing service spent much of this morning offline.

Web servers are being pushed to maximum capacity.

Patience is everything during this challenging period. Technology may have hiccups over the next eight weeks. There is only so much available digital capacity on respective networks, so there may be times when data and connections fail.

Think of a large number of people using Netflix, Amazon Prime, CTV or Global streaming apps and businesses needing to carry on – there will be capacity issues and limits on speeds put in to protect the integrity of the network.

This is unlike cable TV, which is a dedicated data system and has the capacity because it’s an end-to-end connection.

Tip: If you’re a streaming-video subscriber, use the option to download something rather than stream. That way you know you have a complete program, rather than risking lower quality streams and interruptions.