Optimise Your Home Network for Remote Learning and WFH

Got network issues at home? Haven’t we all. Suddenly the majority of households are relying on their Wi-Fi a lot more.

 

Many of us are now working from home – We’re sat on Microsoft Teams, Google Meet or Zoom. Video calls for work aren’t the only thing clogging up your network – Odds are you’ve also got children sitting on virtual lessons, learning remotely.

We’ve gone from using our broadband to stream movies, scroll social media, send some emails and play games to families all using the bandwidth at the same time for multiple video conferencing all at once. Plus all those leisure activities on top!

So what can we do about it?

Understand Your Bandwidth

Here’s a little metaphor for bandwidth, in case you’re not familiar. Imagine you’re drinking through a straw. If you’re slurping on a diet coke, then it’s a simple suck. If it’s a milkshake you’re drinking then you’re either going to need more suction, or a bigger straw. Coke is speedy, milkshare can be slow.

If you’re sending a quick text-based email, it won’t need much bandwidth. If you want to press play on a 4K video and watch it immediately, then you’re going to need a bit more bandwidth.

Right now, with Zooms and other video conferencing taking centre stage in our home networks, we’re needing both upload and download bandwidth. For effective video conferencing you need both upload and download bandwidth capacity (you’re watching and transmitting video at the same time so you need Mbps both up and down).

Try doing a speed test (upload and download). To handle 2 or 3 Zooms at once, you’ll need around 11Mbps upload speed. Yo can also talk to your ISP to check how much upload bandwidth you have on your current plan. .

What Is Your ISP Giving You?

The more capacity you have, the bigger your bill will be.

If you are really struggling with your network, then consider chceking your plan with your ISP, and if needed, upgrade it to include more upload bandwidth. It’s also worth noting that you should also make sure that your ISP is capable of delivering these bandwidth promises. Most speeds to vary and are rarely guaranteed.

You may also want to check whether your ISP is ‘throttling’ you. If you are using (or trying to use) too much data, they may be restricting how much milkshake gets through your straw by biting on the end of it. Sometimes there is the option to pay a fee to stop them throttling you.

QUICK TIPS
  • Check your plan with your ISP
  • Consider upgrading bandwidth, if possible
  • Check you’re not being throttled
  • Check if your ISP offer dedicated fibre lines to each house or whether it’s shared between a cluster of homes

What If You Can’t Upgrade Your Plan To Get More Bandwidth?

Sometimes it’s not as straight forward as just upgrading your plan. It may be too expensive, or it may not even be possible in your location. Thankfully there are some things you can control within your home.

Let’s think about the devices that may be taking up bandwidth, but may not be needed all the time.

  • Smartphones – If you’re working on a video call or doing remote learning, then you probably don’t need your phone. It’s always doing things in the background. Switch them to Airplane mode when they’re not being used, or you know there are several of you trying to use video.
  • Smart TV’s – Let’s face it, Netflix and productivity don’t really go hand-in-hand (unless your Toddler is watching it while you work!). Any TV’s that are not in use, need to be powered down (not in sleep mode).
  • Wi-Fi enabled smart devices – Our homes are full of these nowadays. Anything using WI-Fi and running in the background can be switched off to try and save as much bandwidth as possible.
QUICK TIPS
  • Create a video schedule for your family and try where possible to avoid conflicts (both online, and offline…)
  • Schedule back-ups and auto-updates for during sleep time
  • Ban Netflix etc at capacity-critical times

What if none of this helps much – What then?

Consider Getting Wired

There is another way to optimise your home network – And that’s to run wires with ethernet cables.

A wired connection is always going to provide you with more reliability. It’s usually faster than wireless too!

We’re not suggesting installing wires all over your house – The situation we find ourselves in currently is only temporary. But if you’re happy to run cables along your skirting boards for a couple of months then great!

QUICK TIPS
  • If you can work close to your router then you can keep costs down by using a simple and relatively short ethernet cable from router to laptop.
  • If there’s no improvement when wired in, consider checking if your router is working how it should be.

For more ways to troubleshoot Wi-Fi problems at home, check out our previous blogs. You might find these ones particularly helpful!

Troubleshooting Your Home Wi-Fi

When Should I Use an Ethernet Cable?

Common Wi-Fi Problems and How to Fix Them

 

It’s Business As Usual for Geekabit

We’re still here, and we’re not going anywhere.

We are lucky that much of our work is done remotely. And for situations where this isn’t possible, we are fortunately able to continue working within the government guidelines.

As the nation once again faces a period of lockdown, we thought we would link some previous blogs that might prove useful in the coming weeks.

Whether you’re in work or find yourself working from home again, you might well encounter some Wi-Fi problems. Thankfully, many of them are pretty common and are relatively easy to fix. The below blog will give you some top tips to keep you connected.

Common Wi-Fi Problems and How to Fix Them

Got yourself such good Wi-Fi that your neighbour’s sneaking on? You need to make your connection more secure. Here’s how.

Who is Stealing my Wi-Fi and How Can I Block Them?

Desperate for a bit of time out of the house? Bet you never thought you’d be longing for the office! The weather might be turning a bit too chilly to be enjoying the sunshine mentioned in this next blog, but it could help get your Wi-Fi set up in the garden shed. Don’t forget your hot water bottle and flask of coffee!

How do I get Wi-Fi in my garden?

A reliable, fast connection is once again going to be the thing to keep us connected – To colleagues, friends and family. Don’t let rubbish Wi-Fi be the thing that isolates you.

As we said, we’re still here for all your Wi-Fi needs. Perhaps you’re thinking that a business empty of employees and customers is the best time to finally get your patchy Wi-Fi sorted. In which case, do give our Wi-Fi experts a call. Operating out of London, Cardiff and Hampshire, our engineers can provide a Wi-Fi site survey, plan and design your new Wi-Fi network and then install it for you.

Maybe your home Wi-Fi network isn’t cutting it for all your zoom calls? Over the past couple of months we’ve installed a number of 4G broadband kits in place of intermittent Wi-Fi, especially in more rural areas.

To discuss any of the above, please get in touch with us today.