It’s time to talk about your home network.
As more and more people find their jobs switching to remote environments, more and more people are realizing that their home network just ... aren’t that good. Unlike business-class networks found in offices, most home networks have much lower bandwidth speeds, which can be troubling if a lot of people are all using the network at the same time. Or even worse, if a bunch of people are trying to stream calls or video at the same time.
So, as you and your family adapt to working remotely, let’s take a look at just why reliable home networks are important, and what you can do to improve your time spent surfing the internet from home.
Too Many Devices
The more devices you have using the same network at the same time, the slower everything is going to go.
This is especially true for wireless devices. Take a second and just look around and see how many devices that use wi-fi are within your reach right now. Then think about all the other devices around the rest of the house – computers, tablets, phones, gaming systems, smart home technology, the list goes on and on. And if everybody is video chatting or conferencing at the same time, things can get really slow, really quick.
An optimized home network can help make sure everybody in the house can use the devices they want, whenever they want. It can be the difference between cutting in and out during an important call with a client, or being able to clearly hear and see everybody in the group call.
Wireless Interference
Just like having too many wireless devices, having too many wireless networks can also be a detriment to performance. If you are living in an apartment complex or area where there are a lot of houses close by, all of those different wireless networks could be causing interference with each other.
The good news is that this is something you can easily fix on your own. Go to your router’s systems page using your internet browser – it’s usually 192.168.1.1. – and look for the wireless settings. There should be an option to change the channel the router uses -- switching this up can help keep your router from running into interference from other routers that may be clogging up the most used channels.
Free as Free Can Be
What else can a robust home network get you? Freedom.
Or at least, freedom from wires. You may be used to being stuck at a desk all day for work, but with a comprehensive wi-fi network at home, you can easily get work done anywhere you want in the house. Or even outside it!
Forget having “dead zones” where you lose connection. Forget having to move your laptop closer to the router to get a strong signal. Those are problems of the past, and problems that you shouldn’t be having with a system built to withstand the network needs of a modern home in 2020.
Even better – with the increased stability also comes increased range. Want to take your laptop out on the front porch to knock out some emails while you enjoy the morning sun and sip tea? A thorough home network will give you exactly that, as well as the freedom to move throughout your house, porch, and even backyard, all while still having access to the internet. Isn’t technology awesome?
Other Work-ly Benefits
Upgrading your router and optimizing your home network isn’t just going to be beneficial to your work life – it’s going to improve your play life, as well.
If you are having issues with your network while working at home, chances are you are having problems with your network during other times, too. How many times has your family all fought with each other because too many people are watching Netflix at the same time and are slowing the stream down? What about when one of the kids is downloading a huge video game update and your music stream keeps cutting out? All of these instances can be improved upon with a better network, and there’s no time like now, when everybody is working from home, to improve the whole internet experience at your house.
You are also lucky because you happen to have one of the best electronic stores right in your backyard! We’re here to help with all your home network, smart home, electronics, and technology needs, and we’d be glad to help get you all set up with a new network that can stand up to today’s demanding times. Give us a call or stop in today and let’s connect!