Team Partners Telecommunications

What to do if your employees home WiFi isn't up to speed

Posted on Oct 23, 2020  | Tags: broadband, wifi, WFH

You will no doubt have read that we are, by and large, settling into a way of things on the Covid front. Whether or not you believe what you read is another matter. The gentle easing from a life of commuting to one where a roll out of bed is all one needs to be at one’s desk is being portrayed in many quarters as being a huge bonus, perfecting the work life balance we all strive for.

Maybe. Or not. But like it or not it’s what many of us are having to deal with and, as with most of life’s big changes, it brings with it potentially unexpected trials, both practical and emotional. Let’s look at some of these, starting with the strictly practical question of WiFi.

It’s extraordinary how what has in the past been an adequate Broadband can fail when it comes to working from home. There are a number of reasons why this could be, but here are a few suggestions for you to improve things:

1. Move closer to your router. Sounds simple, even obvious, but positioning is vital, especially in buildings with thick walls or those with foil covered insulation.
   
   
2. Try a different WiFi frequency; modern routers and devices can work on 2.4 and 5Ghz. One may perform better for you.
   
   
3. Change the Channel that your WiFi is using. If your device can find lots of different WiFi names then each of these are being transmitted on a certain channel and if yours is on the same channel as your neighbours they are battling for the same space and thus won’t work as well.
   
   
4. When all else appears to fail, plug your device in to your router with an ethernet cable.
   
   
5. If running a cable through the house isn’t what you want, try a power-line adapter. These enable you to get broadband through your electrical sockets.
   
   
6. Check your equipment. It could be that your router could do with being replaced with a newer model. Or it could be your device. How long have you had that?
   
   
7. You could be competing for bandwidth with other devices in your home; streaming TV, games consoles, etc. Do things improve at different times of day? If so you may want to turn other devices off.
   
   
8. Try turning off your WiFi! If you have a strong 4G signal in your area and a decent data allowance, this could be a simple solution. You could use your mobile phone and create a personal hot-spot, turning it into your router.
   
   
9. And you could contact us, explain what you’re trying to do. We’ll be able to advise you of your best way forward.