The Wall Street Journal - 20.03.2020

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TECHNOLOGY & BUSINESS WSJ.com/Tech

shorter distances. The 2.4GHz

connection offers coverage

for farther distances, but can

be slower and operates on the

same band as lots of other

devices in the house.

If you have an old router,

typically more than five years

old, it’s probably time for a

new one. If you got one from

your ISP, you might need to

call about an upgrade, or go

buy one on your own.

M

y top pick for a

router these days is

the Eero. You can buy

the router by itself for $99 or,

if you have a larger house,

you can add on $149 beacons

that extend its reach, creating

a mesh Wi-Fi network that

blankets your home in wire-

less.

I’ve tested many of these

mesh systems over the past

few years and while they may

be overkill for a smaller

apartment, they solve so

many home Wi-Fi issues. In

my four-story townhouse, my

main router is in the base-

ment, yet I still get great

speeds on every floor.

Other mesh systems have

provided similar speeds and

range, but Eero tops the oth-

ers with its simple app inter-

face and regular updates.

If you don’t want to invest

in an entirely new system to

kill those dead zones, try a

network extender. It’s always

a good idea to buy one from

the same manufacturer as

your router—not least be-

cause they’ll help with tech

support.

In fact, AT&T is offering free

network extenders to its cus-

tomers starting Monday. This

is a good reminder to check

with your ISPs to see what

they are offering right now.

If worst comes to worst

and your home Wi-Fi network

just isn’t performing when

you need it, try your phone’s

cellular network. Use your

phone’s hot spot feature to

connect, though you’ll want

to make sure your data plan

allows for this—and can take

the pounding.

T-Mobile and Sprint an-

nounced that it will offer un-

limited data for all of their

smartphone users. Starting

Wednesday, Sprint began of-

fering 20GB of service on its

mobile hot spot for the next

60 days. T-Mobile began of-

fering an extra 10GB of mo-

bile-hot-spot service.

Thanks to the Federal Com-

munications Commission, all

the ISPs and wireless carriers

have agreed to waive late fees

and open Wi-Fi hot spots to

anyone who needs them dur-

ing this period.

If all else fails, try talking

to your router. Maybe give it

a nickname. Heaven knows,

we’re lonelier these days and

could use the company.

Usually it’s the

router, not the

service provider,

that is to blame.

Facing pressure to shutter
TeslaInc.’s California factory
from local authorities worried
about the spread of coronavi-
rus, Chief Executive Elon Musk
changed direction, announcing
plans to suspend production at
its lone U.S. auto-making plant.
The move threatens to dis-
rupt the Silicon Valley auto
maker just as it was stepping
up production of its latest ve-
hicle, the Model Y SUV, that is
part of Mr. Musk’s plan to
boost deliveries globally by
more than 36% this year.
The health crisis from the
spread of the Covid-19 virus in

BYTIMHIGGINS

the U.S., especially in Califor-

nia, led counties in the San

Francisco area on Monday to

order nonessential businesses

to close so allow people to stay

home to combat the spread of

the potentially deadly disease.

Tesla’s statement Thursday

laid out a plan for work to be

temporarily suspended at the

factory in Fremont. Production

will cease at the end of Monday

to give the company time to

“allow an orderly shutdown,”

the company said, while it

would conduct basic operations

as required by authorities.

The auto maker will also

stop production at its solar fac-

tory in New York while keeping

its Nevada battery factory

working, along with its nation-

wide service and charging net-

work.

That Tesla kept building cars

Tuesday and Wednesday, and

showed no signs of stopping,

put it at odds with the rest of

Silicon Valley. Its competitors

General MotorsCo.,Ford Mo-

torCo. andFiat Chrysler Auto-

mobilesNV have all announced

their own closure plans.

Even if Mr. Musk wanted to

continue to make cars, analysts

doubted he would be able to do

so much longer as parts suppli-

ers are affected by closures

across the U.S. and Europe and

previous ones in China. It is

also likely that sales will fall

dramatically in coming months.

In China, which was first hit by

Covid-19, new-vehicle deliveries

plunged almost 80% in Febru-

ary from a year ago.

Tesla also tried to reassure

investors it could financially

absorb the impact from the

production pause, saying it

had $6.3 billion in cash on

hand at the end of December

before raising an additional

$2.3 billion in new shares a

few weeks ago.

Tesla also has access to

about $3 billion in working cap-

ital line plus financing available

for its Shanghai factory, the

company said.

“We have followed and are

continuing to follow all legal di-

rections and safety guidelines

with respect to the operations

of our facilities, and have hon-

ored the Federal Government’s

direction to continue operat-

ing,” the company said in a

statement.

“Despite taking all known

health precautions, continued

operations in certain locations

has caused challenges for our

employees, their families and

our suppliers.”

Tesla shares fell more than

7% in after-hours trading fol-

lowing the announcement. The

stock had closed up 18.39%, re-

bounding from one of its worst

declines the day prior over

shutdown concerns and a

broader market rout.

The decision ends several

days of confusion over the sta-

tus of Tesla’s Fremont factory.

Initially, Alameda County,

where the factory is located,

said the plant wouldn’t need to

close. Then, on Tuesday, the

county sheriff’s office said

Tesla wasn’t an essential busi-

ness during the health crisis

and would need to limit work to

“minimum basic operations.”

The sheriff’s office said it

needed to stop production.

Despite the sheriff’s com-

ments Tuesday, Tesla didn’t

halt work at Fremont.

Employees were instructed

to continue working, though

those who felt uncomfortable

were told they could take per-

sonal time off to stay away.

Morgan Stanley estimates

Tesla has enough cash to

weather revenue falling 90% for

several months. In such a case,

the bank estimates, Tesla would

burn about $800 million in cash

a month.

Mr. Musk has questioned re-

actions to the coronavirus pan-

demic, calling the risk of panic

generated by the crisis worse

than the health risks of the dis-

ease.

On Twitter, he has re-

sponded to some of the criti-

cism of his comments about the

crisis. He said he would begin

making ventilators if there is a

shortage during the pandemic.

Tesla to Temporarily Shut U.S. Factory

Musk gives in to

safety pressure after

questioning reaction

to the pandemic

PERSONAL TECHNOLOGY|By Joanna Stern

Is Wi-Fi at Home

SlowingYouDown?

There Are Fixes

Time to

stand up and

journey to

your base-

ment, garage

or whatever

corner your wireless router

calls home.

Blow off the dust and

kindly ask: “Dear old Wi-Fi

router, what’s wrong? Why do

youhateme?”

Whether you have slow

speeds, dropped connections

or dead zones, diagnosing

your home network’s prob-

lems is one of the greatest

tech frustrations.

As the majority of us move

to working, learning and,

well, doing everything from

home to slow the spread of

the coronavirus, we are taxing

our home networks and our

wireless gear in ways we

never imagined. My three-

person family used more

bandwidth just this week than

we did all of last month.

It’s time for all of us to be-

come what we always

dreamed of as little children:

network managers. After

years of testing wireless rout-

ers and speaking to experts,

I’m hopeful this advice will

help you diagnose and solve

the bandwidth blues on your

own.

When that video chat with

your boss starts to stutter, or

you get the buffering wheel of

death in the middle of Krist-

off’s breakout song in “Frozen

2,” it’s easy to immediately

blame your service provider,

aka ISP. Except it often has

nothing to do with your ac-

tual internet pipe.

While ISPs are certainly

being hit with loads more ac-

tivity during this time, the

biggest players, including Ve-

rizon, Comcast, Charter and

others, maintain all is under

control.

D

uring the daytime,

Comcast’s Xfinity’s

current usage patterns

look a lot like those week-

night peaks when everybody’s

watching Netflix and Hulu,

Comcast Chief Communica-

tions Officer Jennifer Khoury

explained to me. “Overall

peaks are still well within our

network capability,” she said.

If it isn’t your actual inter-

net pipe, all signs point to it

being your Wi-Fi router.

How can you figure that

out? It’s best to plug your

computer directly into your

home router via an Ethernet

port. Then you’ll need to go

to Ookla’s Speedtest.net web-

site, or download the app, to

run a test. If you are getting

decent speeds while chained

to the router but relatively re-

duced speeds when you’re

wireless in a different room,

blame the damn Wi-Fi router.

You’ll notice that speeds

are better the closer you are

to the router. This is why the

No. 1 piece of router-installa-

tion advice is to position the

router as close to the center

of your house as you can.

You’ll also notice that

speeds, when you’re on the

5GHz network, can typically

be faster than the 2.4GHz net-

work. Try to stay on 5GHz; it

provides faster speeds at

Chief Executive Gene Lee

said he was waving his own sal-

ary for now and appealing to

the Trump administration for

federal assistance to keep from

laying off any of Darden’s

190,000 employees.

“There’s going to be some

sacrifices that are going to have

to be made for the organiza-

tion,” Mr. Lee said on a call.

Darden’s shares rose 11% to

$38. The company’s same-store

sales beat analyst expectations

for its third-quarter overall.

Sales at casual-dining restau-

rants were already sluggish be-

fore the pandemic hit. Consum-

ers had been gravitating toward

takeout, delivery and newer res-

taurant brands. Darden was one

of the most prominent chains to

refuse to partner with third-

party delivery apps, arguing

that companies such as Door-

Dash Inc. and Grubhub Inc. di-

luted profits and interfered with

its connection to customers.

Now, Darden is trying to add

delivery at its hundreds of res-

taurants through its own em-

ployees, including some who

normally work as servers.

Darden’s restaurants are serving

a more limited carry-out menu

and handing off meals to cus-

tomers who pull into restaurant

chain parking lots.

the threat posed by coronavi-

rus. “We cannot forget and dis-

regard the other big current

challenges we are also cur-

rently facing,” she said, citing

climate change, waste and plas-

tic production. “Promoting the

use of reusables is certainly one

of the greatest practices we can

have to address those issues.”

Upstream, a nonprofit, also

defended reusables.

“Coronavirus mainly spreads

through coughs and sneezes, not

your reusable water bottle or

cup,” it said, adding that dispos-

able items could harbor patho-

gens that settled during manu-

facturing and transportation.

However, it also noted that

the virus had shown that better

systems were needed for reus-

ables, like hands-free dispens-

ers in stores and on-site sani-

tizing for personal containers.

Health experts have conflict-

ing opinions on whether ban-

ning reusable cups and bags

would help curb the virus.

“It’s drawing a pretty long

bow to believe this will be

meaningfully impactful,” said

Cameron Wolfe, associate pro-

fessor of medicine in the divi-

sion of infectious diseases at

Duke University. “It’s an incred-

ibly low likelihood that the cup

would be the primary vehicle

for transmission to occur.”

Coronavirus can survive for

a period outside the body and

is transmitted through droplets

like those generated by a cough

or a sneeze. If a cup is infected,

its owner probably is too, said

Mr. Wolfe, making handing

over cash and touching door

handles potentially just as

risky.

“You’d have a better impact

if you told customers with ac-

tive coughs not to come in, or

to use hand sanitizer before ap-

proaching the coffee stand,” he

said.

Others, though, say retailers

are right to take every possible

precaution.

“When something is as

transmissible as this you want

to minimize all possibilities,”

said Jonathan Abraham, an as-

sistant professor of microbiol-

ogy at Harvard Medical School.

“It’s better to be extra careful

than assume it’s overkill.”

Brian Black, a Dunkin’ cus-

tomer in Asheville N.C., was

surprised when his local outlet

wouldn’t refill his reusable cup.

Still, the 46-year-old appreci-

ated the change since he said

Dunkin’ uses the same spoon to

stir multiple coffees and other

people’s reusable cups may not

be germ-free. Dunkin’ didn’t re-

spond to a request for com-

ment.

The war on plastics is being
put on hold as the battle to
contain coronavirus ramps up.
Single-use plastic products,
in the crosshairs over environ-
mental concerns in recent
years, are now getting a boost
amid efforts to stop the spread
of the virus. Personal drinking
cups and reusable shopping
bags are being shunned, while
sales of bottled water, masks
and wipes—made from plas-
tic—have soared. At the same
time, some recycling programs
are being suspended because of
concerns about the virus
spreading.
Starbucks Corp. has said
stores that remain open in
North America would serve cof-
fee only in disposable cups for
takeout. Starbucks, Dunkin’
Brands GroupInc. and Tim
Hortons—owned by Restau-
rant Brands International
Inc.—have all stopped filling
customers’ reusable cups, a U-
turn after years of encouraging
them.
Fearing reusable shopping
bags could spread the virus,
New York state Sen. John
Flanagan is calling for the
state’s plastic-bag ban to be
suspended. Nick Isgro, mayor
of Waterville, Maine, is seeking
a ban on reusable bags for 60
days.
“Whether it’s coronavirus
that gets transferred or some-
thing else, we know scientifi-
cally these things are laden
with germs because a lot of
people just don’t clean them,”
Mr. Isgro said.
Environmentalists say tem-
porary moves away from reus-
able cups and bags could have a
lasting impact on the fight
against single-use plastics.
They worry the moves could
raise bigger doubts about the
hygiene of reusable products
and disrupt fragile consumer
habits.
Larissa Copello de Souza, a
campaigner at Zero Waste Eu-
rope, a Brussels-based non-
profit, said companies were
shortsighted to focus only on

BYSAABIRACHAUDHURI

War on Plastic Takes a Back Seat

Starbucks has stopped serving drinks in reusable cups to help stop the spread of the virus,

AMY KATZ/ZUMA PRESS

The coronavirus pandemic is
slamming the U.S. casual-dining
sector, as companies including
Darden RestaurantsInc., the
owner of Olive Garden and
other chains, race to switch to
takeout service.
Darden, the largest casual-
dining chain in the U.S., with
eight brands and 1,800 restau-
rants, said Thursday that same-
store sales across its restau-
rants plunged 21% for the week
ending March 15, as more coro-
navirus cases appeared domes-
tically. Sales in the Orlando,
Fla., company’s fine-dining
business fell further.
In the parts of the country
that have banned in-person
dining, same-store sales fell
60% in the week ending last
Sunday, the owner of Olive Gar-
den and LongHorn Steakhouse
said. Roughly two dozen states
have banned in-person bar-and-
restaurant service.
Darden is stopping new con-
struction and reducing capital
spending to the bare necessi-
ties, executives said. Like other
restaurants, Darden withdrew
its financial guidance for 2020,
drew down from its $750 mil-
lion credit facility and sus-
pended its quarterly dividend.

BYHEATHERHADDON

Darden Posts Sales Slowdown

The company is trying to add delivery through its own employees.

LUKE SHARRETT/BLOOMBERG NEWS

$800M

Cash the company could burn

in a month if sales plummet

Engineer

To Plead

Guilty

According to the plea

agreement, Mr. Levandowski

agreed to a level 17 offense,

which has federal guidelines

forasentenceof24to30

months in prison. He also

agreed to pay Waymo

$756,499 restitution.

The plea agreement will re-

solve the criminal charges

against Mr. Levandowski, but

there are outstanding issues

with his previous employers.

Earlier this month, a judge

ordered Mr. Levandowski to

pay $179 million to Google, the

sum of an award determined

in December by an arbitration

panel plus interest and law-

yers’ fees.

The same day of the legal

judgment, Mr. Levandowski

filed for bankruptcy, listing

estimated assets of $50 mil-

lion to $100 million and esti-

mated liabilities of $100 mil-

lion to $500 million.

A spokesman for Uber de-

clined to comment.

—Preetika Rana contributed

to this article.

Continued from page B1