Being a North Carolina native, I am familiar with the frequent and unexpected summer storms that seem to strike out of nowhere. While I enjoy the scent of rain and curling up with a book in the overcast rain, it is not ideal when the internet goes down.
Extreme weather conditions such as torrential rain, wind speeds exceedingly high, and heavy cloud cover can all affect your internet service. This depends on what type of internet connection you have. Satellite Internet is most susceptible to service interruptions due to weather conditions. However, those with fixed wireless or home internet connections may also experience weather-related issues. Cable and DSL are more reliable. A particularly severe storm that could knock out electricity, such as a hurricane, can affect the internet service in your area.
It’s important to be prepared for any internet outages that may occur. Also, you need to be aware of what you can do to prevent or mitigate potential problems.
Satellite internet is the most vulnerable
It’s not surprising that satellite Internet is more likely to experience service interruptions because of rain, snow, ice, heavy clouds coverage, and so forth.
Satellite signals must travel a considerable distance to reach your home from an orbiting satellite. These satellites often fly some 22 000 miles above the ground. Your internet service can be disrupted by any obstruction, including rain or heavy clouds, and the signal-dispersing droplets.
You may also experience problems with your dish due to snow and ice buildup.
The satellite’s kryptonite is heavy rain and cloud coverage
Although it may sound like a simple way to avoid temporary outages, installing a rain guard or protecting your satellite dish from the elements is unlikely.
Satellite signals must travel thousands of miles to reach your home. This means they could encounter service-disrupting situations anywhere along the route, not just near your dish. Weather-related internet outages can occur even when it isn’t raining or cloudy above your home. This is why a rainguard won’t prevent connectivity problems. Installing a solid surface around or over your dish could also block the signal, which can cause further service disruptions.
In the event of an internet outage caused by rain or cloud cover, you have no other options than to wait for it to pass before service resumes. Satellite providers have made significant improvements over the years to reduce the impact of bad weather on your internet connection.
HughesNet has made technology and design improvements that have helped the satellite internet’s vulnerability to rain and cloud coverage. Innovative satellite technology is also available with Starlink. This includes a better dish design and low-orbit satellite technology that can help reduce outages caused by weather. While also greatly improving speed, latency, and overall performance. Satellite internet is not immune to weather-related service interruptions, but they are less common than they were in the past.
However, you can make snow and ice disappear!
Rain and clouds will pass eventually, but snow or ice can stay for days or even weeks in certain areas. An inch or less of snow or ice can have minimal or no impact on your internet service. However, if there is a significant accumulation (in the South, this is significant), it could be a problem.
If snow or ice accumulates on your satellite dish, and it affects your internet service’s performance, you might be able to remove it yourself — provided you are able to safely do so. Satellite dishes can often be sat on top of a roof, deck railing, or another difficult-to-reach area. This can make cleaning and accessing them dangerous and even impossible, especially when it is icy. If you are unable to access your dish safely, do not attempt to remove snow or ice.
You can reach the dish by lifting it with your hand. You should be gentle with the dish and avoid moving it. Even a few centimeters can cause the dish to move out of place and reduce signal quality, or even lose signal entirely. To avoid scratching the surface (e.g. windshield scraper), you should also be careful not to use any tools that could damage the dish.
Applying warm water to the area affected by ice accumulation will often solve the problem. To get the best results and avoid damaging the internal components or moving the dish, you can use a spray bottle to spray warm water on the problem area until it is gone. You should avoid any tools that can damage the dish or move it, such as an ice-scraper.
