Communications firm Sure says its network has the resilience to cope with significantly increased demand.

The company says it has been preparing for the likelihood of more people working or studying from home.

But it warns download speed could be affected at peak times due to the demand.

A spokesman said: ’We may need to consider applying restrictions to broadband services, for example restrict the availability of large updates for online games to off-peak hours only, however we will inform you before applying any type of restriction.’

With most of us having to work or study from home, demand on the Isle of Man’s telecoms infrastructure is increasing dramatically.

The additional demand comes alongside the rise in multi-device households, which have become the new norm.

Sure issued some tips for getting the most out of broadband.

l Think about how many devices in your home are online now - it’s not just mobiles, laptops and games consoles anymore, but smart home systems and domestic appliances as well.

l Add to that the fact that entire families across the island will be spending a lot more time at home together than usual and your usage is certainly going to be above what you might expect it to be.

l To get the best WiFi signal strength your router needs to be located away from any objects that might cause interference (such as Bluetooth speakers, games consoles and microwaves), preferably somewhere high up in the centre of your home.â?¯

l Where possible, it helps to connectâ?¯devices directly to your router via an Ethernet cable. This is a computer networking cable which should give you the fastest speeds possible and free up the WiFi capacity for other devices.â?¯

l Connecting lots of devices to your router can eat into your WiFi bandwidth and affect the quality of your connection, so turn these off if you’re not using them as devices like tablets and smartphones often work in the background.

If everyone is home, you may wish to consider limiting the number of devices in use at any one time.

l Always password protect your WiFi to prevent unauthorised users from connecting to your network and slowing down your service.â?¯

l Download or stream videos and TV shows in standard rather than high definition format and avoid large updates for online games until off-peak hours.

l If you are struggling to get WiFi coverage throughout your home, you may benefit from a WiFi extender or Mesh WiFi System - these are available from Sure, and the cost can be spread over 24 months.

You can get in touch with Sure by phone on 247247 or by email: [email protected]