This came as a group email to our campus community, and I thought it informative, so reposting it here.
Message about the Structure of the Internet
Everything has limits!
The Internet backbone is made up of the principal data routes between large, strategically interconnected computer networks and core routers around the country and world.
Problems can occur anywhere along a route that impact access to resources or speed of delivery or access.
The best analogy of the Internet is roads.
Neighborhood
City
Region
State
US
When there is an accident, there is a delay in a particular area that can also impact surrounding areas with increased traffic and delays.
Specific times of the day have higher volumes of traffic.
This map, created by MIT, shows the long-haul fiber that carries Internet data around the US. Red spots show different cable connects. There are multiple connections to each of the red spots.
Be prepared for slowness during prime time usage. What can you do:
Stagger meeting times or change the time you use services.
Consider other ways to accomplish what you are trying to accomplish.
If using Webconferencing (Zoom, Google Meet):
Don’t use live video.
Use lower resolution playback.
Turn off your camera.
Recognize that the quality of users’ connections will vary. When you don’t have any issue, someone else might.
There are sites where you can check the status of various online resources:
Canvas - https://status.instructure.com/
Google - https://www.google.com/appsstatus
Zoom - http://status.zoom.us