Netflix Users Report Temporary Outages Amid Coronavirus Shutdown
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — Netflix's streaming service was unavailable Wednesday to some users across the country for about an hour, the company confirmed to Variety.
"Some of our members in the U.S. and Europe were unable to use Netflix via our website for around an hour this morning," a Netflix spokesperson said in a statement to Variety. "The issue is now fixed and we're sorry for the inconvenience."
The website DownDetector reported users complaining of problems accessing Netflix a little after 12:30 p.m. ET.
People took to social media reporting the outages as they were stuck inside their homes.
With more and more Americans working from home amid the coronavirus pandemic, some are wondering how the surge in online users may affect streaming and internet speeds.
"Right now millions of users are working, learning, Zoom-ing, Netflix-ing, Facetime-ing, all from home during this pandemic," said TechSesh Founder Jessica Naziri.
"As more and more cities are asking their residents to stay home, we'll all be relying on internet access."
According to Naziri, now is a good time for wireless companies to "come in a provide more," by increasing gigs.
Here are a few tips on how to keep internet speeds up:
- Make sure to reposition your routers and don't keep it on the floor. Make sure it is elevated somewhere so it gets more signal.
- Check your internet speed. Call your internet provider to perform a speed test to make sure you are getting what you are paying for.
- For Wifi routers, make sure they are in a central location so that the bandwidth is distributed throughout your home.
- Get a mesh network or an extended boost for your signal so you can put it throughout your home.
