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Start off by disconnecting the microwave.

In conditions when the pandemic coronavirus millions of people around the world are in isolation or working from home has drastically increased the load on the Internet, many have noticed that its speed has decreased. Independent media regulator in the UK Ofcom has proposed that residents of the country are some simple tips on how to improve Internet speed and reduce the number of failures, writes the BBC.

The list of tips is evident, for example, “download the movie before watching better than watching it via streaming at the same time, when someone else in the house speaks by video link”. But there are more unexpected recommendations.

“Did you know that microwaves can degrade signal Wi-Fi? So don’t use a microwave when you do video call, watch videos in HD, or are busy with something important online,” urges Ofcom.

Here are a few tips British media regulator:

Place your router away from other equipment, which can affect signal quality: better on a table or shelf than on the floor;

Leave the router always turned on;

During calls or video conferencing leave only the audio and video turn off if it does not matter;

Agree about the calls in a less popular time, for example, in X hours 13 minutes or hours, 38 minutes, not “exactly” or “half”;

For optimum speeds, connect the computer to the router via Ethernet cable instead of use Wi-Fi;

If possible, do not use an extension cord, it may cause harmful interference to the Internet;

Unplug devices that are not in use: they often work in sleep mode, but use the Internet.

The number of devices that can interrupt the signal – cordless phones, baby monitors, halogen lamps, light switches with dimmer, stereos and speakers for computers, televisions and monitors.

The quality is lower, reliability higher?

Ofcom also recommends not to forget regular phone and use it because of the increased load on mobile networks.

Trying to reduce the load on the Internet, the popular streaming platforms, including YouTube, Facebook, Netflix and Disney+ recent days have reduced the resolution of their videos.

According to the company, Openreach, which manages the British Internet networks, while service providers in the UK cope with the load: for working days, the volume of Internet traffic increased by 20%, but it is still lower than at the usual time in the evenings.

The British government stated that the maintenance of the high speed Internet is a “key factor” in the fight against coronavirus.