As working practices change and the pandemic continues, we will remain dependent on our internet connections to keep us working as well as entertained. To achieve best performance and reliability, we need to gain a deeper understanding of our home networks. Here are a few tactics to ensure you have the right provisions in place to enable you and your family to carry on working successfully from home.
1. Quality Internet Provider
If you are working from home you will need a reliable internet provider and a high speed internet connection. Check your internet plan and establish what speed of service you subscribe to and work out if it is sufficient for your current and future needs.
If you need to upgrade your home internet consider a business package. Business class internet connections can provide better performance at peak times and tend to include higher quality technical support.
2. Router position
To optimize your home wifi network move your router to a central part of your home, as wifi strength and speed diminishes the further you are from your router. If necessary, consider repositioning it or using wired and wireless homeplugs and wireless access points to provide faster cabled and wireless connections, Old routers can affect the speed and range so if it is more than 5 years old consider replacing it.
3. Reboot your router
Rebooting your router and optimising the router settings can help boost your internet speed and wireless signal.
4. Good practice
Closing any extraneous or unused open tabs in your computer’s browser can improve your computer’s performance, as can turning off the wireless connection on devices such as phones and tablets when they are not needed.
5. Virtual Private Network (VPN)
A VPN Network is a secure encrypted link between two locations, for example between your home computer and your office network where your files are stored, enabling you to work remotely and as productively as possible.
6. Mobile data
Occasionally you may lose your internet connection and it’s worth having a backup solution in place, such as a mobile data package on a phone or USB dongle that you can tether other devices to by creating a wireless hotspot.
If you get a good mobile signal in your home, another way to alleviate home wifi network congestion is to use your mobile data rather than your home wireless where appropriate. Before switching over any of your devices, however, check your mobile data plan to make sure you won’t go over any data caps and incur overage charges.
7. Number of devices
Saturation can happen on your home network when too many people try to connect to the internet at the same time. If several films are being streamed while others are on video calls, you can overload your bandwidth, causing everyone’s connection to slow down. In this situation you need to limit how many devices are on the network at the same time and prioritise who uses it at certain times. If you still have issues with your internet consider upgrading your plan or purchasing an additional internet connection for dedicated work use.
8. Ethernet connection
A hard-wired ethernet connection, as opposed to a wireless connection, is still a reliable way to get a good connection.
9. Mesh wifi system
If you have several users in your home and experience wifi dead zones, a more comprehensive solution is to use a Mesh wifi system to blanket your home with better wifi coverage. This will help evenly distribute wifi throughout your home to all of your connected devices. Mesh wifi also provides flexibility as you can move away from your desk and around the house without experiencing Wi-Fi fade during critical business meetings.
10. Separate home and business usage
If you or anyone else in your house is now working from home you might want to consider separating work and home internet traffic. One way to do this would be to have a dedicated network for each purpose and applying bandwidth restrictions; one for recreational use and the other for business use (with higher bandwidth and better SLA). This prevents your children from monopolising the whole wireless network bandwidth to stream films and play online games during a critical conference call.
11. VoIP (voice over internet protocol)
VoIP is telephone communication that is transmitted over the internet. A high-speed broadband connection is a necessity if you are using VoIP. Many home office workers choose this method of communication because it is very cost effective when compared with landline telephones. Adept IT Solutions VoIP plans.
12. Schedule internet usage
Online entertainment, such as streaming films and graphic intensive games can use up huge amounts of usage and can result in an extreme slowdown or even a system crash. Encourage children to play games together instead of individually and set daily schedules within your house to avoid performance issues and prioritise usage for those working and studying.
Overall, working from home can be very rewarding, so make sure you stay ahead of the game by being proactive about ensuring that you are well connected, using the best software for the job and are engaging in the best security practices. By doing these things, not only will your employer be happy to leave you to it, they will continue to let you work from home.
If you need help with your connectivity or any advice on making your IT systems work better please get in touch 01603 451810 / hello@adept-it-solutions.co.uk