Your internet used to meet your needs as you could check social media and stream a TV show when you with little trouble. Now, since working from home, you are finding your internet service frustrating: it is slow when you send and receive large work files and online meetings fade in and out. Here are some tips to help.
Blame your service provider
Ah, the familiar pastime – blaming someone else, but in this case the problem could be with your provider and is the best place to start.
Yes, it is a good idea to keep your expenses low, and that “cheap” Internet plan you are on may not have been a problem in the past. But you may be on the slowest possible speed so check with your provider to see if you can get a faster speed on your current connection.
Some internet service providers (ISP’s) save money by buying less bandwidth and overselling their services. Bandwidth impacts the data transfer rate, which makes a difference to downloads and connectivity. Now that everyone is online at the same time, what was once a minor issue can become a major one. Moving to a higher-quality ISP can help address these concerns.
Some people are fortunate to live in places with full-fibre connections (FTTP), this technology uses fibre optic cables to send more data, more quickly. Other people have to rely on providers using the old phone or copper cables (FTTN). Copper cables are old school and designed to carry call data as electrical pulses. The further your internet signals travel, the more your signal strength falters.
If poor wired infrastructure to your home is the issue, it may pay to look at moving to a point-to-point wireless connection or a 4G / 5G option from your mobile phone provider. For a wireless connection, you would install a WIFI dish on your roof pointing to a nearby wireless provider. With a 4G connection, you’d be using the mobile phone towers. 5G is the next generation technology up from 4G, if it is available in your area you will find it a lot faster than 4G.
Redundancy is another way to go. Your existing Internet connection may be fine most of the time, but if the Internet is critical for you having a backup or fail-over connection is a must. Please contact us to discuss your options.
The problem is at your end
It is possible the root of your internet problems is right there in your home or neighbourhood. It may be caused by bad internal wiring, a poor wireless connection or even one of you family members or house mates hogging the bandwidth.
If you are connected to the internet via the old copper cable (ie FTTN or FTTC) we suggest getting a licensed cabler in to disable any unused phone extensions and maybe even replacing the cabling. We have seen connections jump from around 40Mbps to over 80Mbps just by changing the internal wiring.
If you are using a wireless connection then see if three is any improvement if you connect directly to your modem / router with an ethernet cable. If that works all ok, you will need to look at moving your wireless signal from 2.4G to 5Ghz, upgrading your wireless network or putting in cabling.
You may no longer be the only person using your internet connection. You could be trying to download something on one computer while your partner is taking a video call, or your kids are in an online classroom or downloading the latest game..
There’s a solution out there
The solution to your work-from-home internet issues will vary as it depends on your location, type of internet, quality of your internet provider and how good your external and internal house wiring is.
Remember that you don’t have to troubleshoot your internet issues all on your own. Your ISP can help with some issues and our tech experts can help find the right fit for your needs. Contact us today on 08 8326 4364 or su*****@dp*********.au.
