Working at home is becoming the new normal highlighting the need for dependable and responsive home internet and wireless.  In this series, we will look at some of the ways we can improve our working from home experience.

Wth an increasing number of knowledge workers being asked to work from home, many are finding what is generally acceptable for their regular use can’t hold up to video conferencing, e-mail, instant messaging, and file access. As schools and colleges move to distance learning, and several family members are accessing the wireless network at the same time, dependable and responsive home internet and wireless becomes critical.

Internet speed is one of the most well known metrics;  the one providers use to charge us for their service. More speed generally helps, especially as we have more users on our home networks. Most providers are now offering up to “Gig” service, which is blazingly fast. You are likely paying based on the download speed. Generally, home internet speeds range between 50Mbps and 1Gbps.

Without going into detail, that is how we measure the amount of data that can be downloaded from the internet. For a majority of usages this is the most important number. When working from home, sharing files with our colleagues, video calling, and “uploading” anything outside our home, the upload speed becomes critical. Because you are sending more traffic out, it doesn’t take long to overwhelm your connection.

Cable providers such as Comcast and Cox tend to have slower upload speeds, typically around 10Mbps, whereas fibre internet providers such as Verizon, AT&T, and Frontier tend to have similar speeds for both upload and download. If your co-workers are complaining of poor video performance from your video conference, your upload speeds may be the culprit.

Industry experts believe the work from home movement will continue beyond our current situation.  How will your home internet support your family’s needs now and in the future?