In this crisis time, the primary concerns for most ISPs should be stability and consistency. The primary pillar of this is routing. BGP, or Border Gateway Protocol, is the silent tool that ensures when a user at home tries to connect to Google, they end up on Google's controlled servers. BGP attacks have been on the rise for years, and more than ever now, which is why we need to ensure that we keep connections secure. Additionally, subversion of standard DNS services, sometimes done for advertising or other reasons, could alter key experiences set up by major websites and tools.
The telecom industry, at least in the US, has had decades to improve their techstack, functionality, and capacity. I can imagine right now that millions of Americans are probably realising how untenable their networks really are. The US ranks 10th for average internet speeds (according to Akamai Technologies), but that’s focused on download speeds. Upload speeds are very important in the remote work and video meeting worlds. As such, so many people are struggling right now to have quality voice, and stable video connections in meetings and many are having issues downloading files and sharing data. Especially in multi-persons households where multiple people are running online meetings, music, movies, and other online activities all at once, you can imagine how easy it is for that to all come to a grinding halt.
As a whole, the ISPs are doing a great job handling the load that’s being sent across the country and around the world. But for now, our internet speeds will feel more like we’re just running through quicksand, instead of blazing along like a rocket ship.
