The coronavirus is creating an 'enormous stress test' of America's internet

The US' internet and wireless networks are coming under immense pressure to deliver reliable connectivity as schools and businesses confronting the novel coronavirus have shifted their day-to-day operations out of the workplace and into homes, according to industry analysts and government officials. "This is going to be an enormous stress test for our communications networks," said Blair Levin, a former Federal Communications Commission chief of staff and author of the agency's 2010 plan to improve internet access nationwide.

This shift in Americans' internet consumption patterns may soon reveal weak points in the complex ecosystem of companies, services and products that make up the internet, said FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel. From aging home Wi-Fi routers and digital collaboration tools to exchange points in the internet backbone, there can be many potential areas of failure, Commissioner Rosenworcel said. "There are a lot of different elements of bringing internet into the home, and a lot of places where we could find stress in the system," she said.