Preparing your home network for successful remote working

Let’s face it, as we enter into another, potentially interminable, round of lockdown here in England, we should now be better prepared to work from home. Certainly those with kids will be more efficient this time around (so long as schools stay open), but have we all spent the time to ensure our home working environments are set up to best support our remote working?

From recent experience in reviewing a number of home working environments I would suggest not. 

There is an assumption amongst many, I think, that pretty much everyone should now have a decent internet connection. In the age of Netflix, Disney + and Amazon Prime how could we not? We stream therefore we can work. But could our experience be better? Can we lose the jitter, the lag, the delayed responsiveness of connecting into work from home? The dropped VPN connections. The slow opening of files. The delay between the click of our mouse and the action on our screen. 

Maybe. Maybe not. There are quite a few variables in play. But we can almost certainly, in most cases, make things better. And this is important, because even if the lockdown does only last a month, chances are many of us will be working from home for a lot longer, if not permanently. So, we really should be making sure our home network is fit for this purpose.

1: Just what kind of internet connection have you got anyway?

There is a huge range of connectivity now available to consumers, but what you can get is entirely dependent on your postcode. Some lucky types now have access to synchronous fibre whereas others are stuck with a 4G router on their windowsill or tethering their phone. Bandwidth can be anything from a couple of megabits per second to a gigabit.

Now, you don’t need a crazy fast connection to work from home in most cases. Remote desktop services are pretty undemanding, though a decent speed connection will certainly help those using VPN. Ofcom’s 2020 annual report into fixed broadband speeds announced that the average download speed for the UK was 64Mbps and upload speed around 7.2Mbps. This should be ostensibly fine for working from home, even if those people using VPN or who need to push out a lot of data would benefit from a better upload speed.

Are you above or below average? Check the options in your area to see whether you could get better speeds for a reasonable price and if so, make the change!

2: What else is happening on the connection?

Chances are most of us are sharing our internet connection with others. Are they using the connection at the same time you are trying to work? If you only have limited bandwidth then that will seriously affect your ability to work online. Bandwidth will get eaten up by other home workers, video streamers or other online activity.

So, make sure that you have a connection that can adequately support the maximum load you anticipate from your household or agree to limit non-work activity during the working day (good luck with that).

3: WiFi is the same as the internet connection, right?

No. It is not. The internet connection is the cable that comes into your house and terminates into your router. WiFi is the wireless signal that you get from your router. You will not get the same performance over WiFi as that which you will get if you plug straight into your router.

So, if possible, cable your work device into your internet router. This will give you the best possible connection.

Of course, chances are you work in a different room to your internet router and therefore need to use WiFi (unless you want to trail a long ethernet cable around your house). If that’s the case, read on!

4: WiFi – speed and latency

Two of the key elements that will affect your WiFi connection are speed and latency. Speed is your bandwidth; latency is the time it takes from request to response (ie: clicking a mouse to seeing the resulting action on your screen).

Both speed and latency will be worse over WiFi than if cabled. And both will be worse the further away you are from your router. A WiFi connection is degraded by distance, obstructions (walls, doors and windows), electrical interference and other WiFi signals. The more of these between your computer and the router, the worse your connection will be. Use a speed test application and move around the house to see the changes in Ping (latency), Download and Upload (bandwidth). How is it in the space where you actually work?

The best thing to do here is set up a network of multiple wireless access points around your home so you get a strong signal wherever you want to work. This can be done using a mesh WiFi system (connecting a series of WiFi access points via wireless) or Home Plug devices which run the network across your house’s electrical circuit. These are consumer products that are very easy to set up and do not require any expert IT knowledge. Every home should have them.

5: WiFi – bands

Most modern routers broadcast over two radio frequencies: 2.4Ghz, known as wireless N and 5Ghz, known as wireless AC.

Wireless N is an older wireless technology, has a greater range but lower speeds and is more likely to experience congestion with other wireless devices and worse latency.

Wireless AC has a shorter range but faster speeds and is less likely to encounter interference and has better latency.

You should always try and connect over wireless AC if you cannot cable in your computer.

6: WiFi – channels

WiFi is also broadcast over a number of different channels within the dual band frequency ranges. The channel is usually selected automatically by your router when first switched on. If your computer is within range of multiple wireless signals using the same or overlapping channels, this will degrade your connection.

You can scan and identify WiFi channels within your working area with one of many easy to use phone applications. If your WiFi signal looks to be in a congested area, you can manually change the channel on your router via its admin interface. Instructions should be easily found on your ISP’s website.

7: Routers/ access points – some common issues

Have you had your router for a long time? If so, it may well need an upgrade to run the latest hardware and firmware and to ensure you get the best wireless connection from your ISP provided device. Call your ISP and ask them.

Is your router/ access point hidden? As noted earlier on, obstructions will degrade a WiFi signal. Make sure your router/ access point is situated in a sensible location where it can broadcast unimpeded. Don’t put it in a cupboard or behind your sofa. I know it’s ugly, but it’s important.

Can you not connect your VPN? Some ISP’s block VPNs by default on their routers. You should be able to adjust this via your router’s admin interface. If not, call your ISP.

8: And last but not least, take a look at your computer

Some computers only support wireless N, especially older models. This is not good. If you are buying a new computer, make sure it supports wireless AC.

Computers have different WiFi cards and they behave differently. This is not necessarily due to the age or cost of the machine. My wife’s 18 month old, £3K Macbook Pro gets a far worse wireless signal than my 18 month old  £1.5K Lenovo Carbon X1 unless she is much closer to the access point. You will need to set up your network to best support your computer’s behaviour.

Computers need to be cared for. If you don’t reboot them regularly their performance will degrade, including their WiFi performance. Only keep open the programmes you are actively using, keep your machine clean and tidy and reboot regularly.

Updates can break things. Don’t apply them as soon as they come out unless required for critical security reasons. Give it a few weeks for others to find the bugs and a fix to be released.

WiFi cards depend on their drivers. If you are having problems, check you have the most up to date driver installed.

I hope this guidance was useful and helps you better prepare your home working environment. Good connectivity really is critical, especially if you are working remotely on latency sensitive programmes and complex design files. Definitely worth a little time to get right as we are all in this for the long run.