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Article first published 14-05-2011
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The UK's Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has recently completed and published it's report into how the UK's ICT infrastructure would stand up to the impact of climate change.
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"ICT" was defined as anything that enables the transmission etc. of voice and data traffic on electronic devices. This includes the transmission of voice and data across wireless equipment and networks.
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This should be of particular interest to anyone (everyone) that uses a wireless signal anywhere in the route between your laptop / computer and the Internet so, this includes anyone that is connecting to the Internet through a wireless router, a wireless public access point or, wireless Internet base station.
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The report looks at the effect that extreme weather conditions have on, amongst many other things, wireless Internet connections and infrastructure and includes the effect that hot weather has on wireless networks and connections.
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Interestingly, the report highlights the fact that increased temperatures impact the range over which a wireless Internet connection can operate and also, that the rate of rainfall and size of raindrop adversely affects a wireless Internet connection's quality of service.
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This is a very brief summary of part of DEFRA's report. The whole report is available to download and read from: www.defra.gov.uk
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Recently, the Internet has been rumbling with the sound of customer complaints about the quality of their wireless Internet connections and so, I thought, especially, following last week's article about slow Internet connections, that, it would be helpful to mention DEFRA's report and some of it's findings.
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The report draws some of it's conclusions based upon the effect, an increase in temperature of 2-4 degrees centigrade might have, on wireless internet connections.
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Blimey, an increase of 2 to 4 degrees - how do the wireless Internet Service Providers in very hot countries cope in the blistering heat of summer ?
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I wonder whether, any of the wireless Internet customers who have recently been complaining about the speed of their Internet connections and posting their comments on the Internet, make any allowance for the seasonal increase in temperature in a hot country ?
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I doubt it. If some of their comments are anything to go by, they just want their Internet to work all the time, regardless of extreme weather conditions. I think they call it having your cake and eating it !
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So, it's that time of year again. Time to get the computer out from underneath the desk and get the side off and clean it out ! Check the fans are working properly, especially the fan that cools your computer's CPU.
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If you use a laptop to connect to a wireless router, consider purchasing a laptop cooling stand or, at the very least, if you are using it for extended periods, stand a fan close-by to help to keep it cool.
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Finally, this summer, spare a thought for the staff at your Internet Service Provider. If you have any doubts about how hot and uncomfortable it is to work in a room full of servers, why not give them a visit and ask to give it a try. Maybe then, in the future, you may not be as quick to complain !
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