Everybody wants to enjoy faster internet and Wi-Fi speeds at home, and if you are working from home, it’s going to be essential for you. No matter what kind of work you do from home, there’s nothing worse than having a slow internet connection hold you back when you’re trying to send files, download important documents for work or communicate with your boss, colleagues, clients or customers via video calling.
When you are working from home, you need an internet package that you can rely on to have your back and be fast enough for you to get everything done. If your internet connection at home has not been performing very well lately, or you have started to notice problems that are beginning to get in the way of your work, then the good news is that there are a few things that you can do to improve the speeds and reliability, making sure that your working from home experience runs more smoothly.
Change Your Internet Provider
In some cases, the simplest and easiest way to get better internet for working from home is to just change your internet provider. If you are currently using an older type of internet package like DSL, then you may find that switching to something faster like fiber internet is a great way to improve your connection at home. Fiber internet is not yet available everywhere, so be sure to check your address first on the provider’s website to ensure that your area is covered.
Connect Via Ethernet
If you are using a PC or laptop to work from home and are able to work close to the router, then you may want to consider using an ethernet cable rather than connecting via Wi-Fi. While Wi-Fi is the most commonly used way to get online these days, wireless connections are often not as reliable or as fast as they are convenient and may be more prone to having issues. By connecting directly via an ethernet cable, you can expect faster speeds and more reliability compared to a wireless connection as the signal is transmitted to your device directly.
Reset Your Router
If your internet connection at home is normally fine and you have recently started to notice some problems, then it may be a simple fix. In some cases, your router may become overloaded and simply needs to be reset for the problems to subside. It’s a good idea to reset your router around once a month or so if you use the internet on a daily basis for work. This gives the device a chance to refresh your internet connection, for better speeds and reliability. If you have both a router and a modem as separate devices, then reset them both.
Relocate the Router
In some cases, your internet connection might not be ideal for working from home if your router is not in the best location. While wireless internet has become more and more advanced over time, it can still become blocked behind walls or even furniture in your home. If you have placed your router in a remote corner of your home, or there are furniture items and other household items blocking it, then this might be the culprit when it comes to your slow internet speeds or the Wi-Fi dropping out. Try moving the router to a different location where there is less around to block it.
Use Wi-Fi Extenders
If you have a large home and your router is at the other end from where you work, this might cause your connection to become slow and unreliable, as the signal might not be reaching you very well. In this case, using Wi-Fi extenders can be a good idea as this will ensure that the wireless signal can reach everywhere in the house, allowing you to work from your favorite room without being interrupted by your connection dropping out or buffering on a video call. Simple Wi-Fi extenders are just connected to your router and then plugged in around the home, allowing your signal to stretch further.
Disconnect Other Devices
If you are working from home and find that you have slow upload and download speeds, it might be a bandwidth issue. Today, our homes have so many connected devices that it might not even be that somebody is playing a bandwidth-heavy online game on the PS5 downstairs or streaming Netflix in UltraHD. It can be worth checking your devices around the home to see what might be eating your bandwidth like smart TVs or smart speakers that you do not need to use while you are working from home and switch them off or disconnect them to see if this makes a difference.
Install Antivirus Software
If you are working from home, antivirus software on your laptop or PC is not just important for making sure that you stay safe and keep your personal and work information secure when you are working remotely online. With the right antivirus software, you can also get better internet speeds as it will catch any malware or computer viruses that might get in the way of your connection.
There are several viruses and types of computer malware that can seriously disrupt your connection if your device is infected. And, since not all viruses and malware are immediately obvious, you might end up spending a lot of time and money making changes to your router or internet plan, to no avail.
There are lots of good, reasonably priced antivirus programs that you can use. These will often work in the background as you are working from home, alerting you immediately to any suspected threats on your computer or dodgy sites that you might be about to visit.
With more and more people now working from home for at least some of the week, a good internet connection has become essential. If you have been experiencing issues with your internet connection, or it’s not as reliable as you would like, then the good news is that you don’t have to put up with it.