Technical perspective: Tracking pandemic-driven internet traffic

Abstract

The Internet is a research experiment that escaped from the lab to become a critical global communications infrastructure during our lifetimes. Over the past year of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Internet has supported friends and families staying in touch and supporting each other, remote work and learning, and the global collaboration of experts designing much-needed treatments and vaccines. As challenging as the past year (and more) has been, the Internet has made it possible for many important aspects of life, work, and culture to continue. The following paper offers a detailed look at how Internet traffic changed during the COVID-19 pandemic. The paper is distinctive in analyzing traffic measurements from multiple networks--ISPs, three major Internet exchange points, a mobile provider, and a university network--across a long period of time.