Want to get the most out of your remote working experience? Explore ways to get better internet quality and signal strength from your residential service.
Stuck working at home? You’re not the only one. Most of the global working population is working remotely. Unless you count front-line medical workers and other essential service workers.
While vaccination drives are proceeding remarkably well in the United States, a lot of people may still be wary about coming into work.
Especially with the aversion many have developed towards congested workplaces and limited space for safe distancing. Therefore, it would not be unreasonable to think that remote working will continue for a while longer.
Of course, this is only possible because over the past decade residential providers have made efforts to expand their infrastructure and services.
Residential connections like Cox internet plans have penetrated a significant majority of the United States. This is what made the remote working model possible in the first place.
However, there are certain ways you can still improve your remote working experience. Here are a few tips on boosting your internet connection and network quality for a smoother working day.
Work Out Some Ground Rules with Others in Your Home
The very first thing you need to do is have a serious talk with everyone who lives with you. Whether it is a partner, spouse, young teenager, or adult roommate, a few ground rules are necessary.
Communicate your schedules with each other, and work out a plan that ensures everyone has equitable access to bandwidth.
At the very least, try time-sharing video conferences or calling software during business hours. That means keeping restricting your downloads to only essential files.
Schedule Downloads and Updates for After Hours
You don’t have to give up downloading altogether. If you have other people working or studying at your home, you can be sure they have just as much need for bandwidth as you do.
You should restrict bandwidth usage to certain apps, such as Netflix or Steam, when you are working. But you can still schedule your games or video files to download as soon as you sign off from work.
That way, you can still ensure your residential connection isn’t all about work.
Disconnect Idle Devices from Your Network
If you’re experiencing network congestion issues, see if you can identify any idle devices and remove them. Even when not in use, devices connected to your home Wi-Fi are still communicating over that network.
Some could have automatic updates enabled, which would interfere with your internet usage. With limited bandwidth available, you can conserve it substantially by disconnecting idle devices that aren’t being actively used all the time.
Try Switching Router Channels
Routers create a wireless internet network using radio frequencies. Unfortunately, many other appliances and devices also emit radio signals at the same frequencies.
So, it is not unusual for certain radio frequencies to become congested. This congestion interferes with devices trying to access the internet over a Wi-Fi connection.
Depending on your router’s settings, you can switch channel frequencies to less congested channels. Some routers even come with automatic frequency switching, which allows the router to search for the best frequencies on its own.
Check For a Better Router
If your router continues to offer poor performance, you may want to consider an upgrade. Most router models have upgraded hardware that allows for better throughput.
Throughput is a term referring to the volume of data that can pass through the router at a time. Better routers can handle more throughput, meaning devices can send more data requests and receive the answering information much faster.
Place The Router in a Central Spot
You should also pay attention to where you position your router. The rule of thumb is to place it as close as possible to the center of your home. However, you should still be careful about other stuff.
For example, you don’t want to place your router near a microwave oven or other appliances that could interfere with the signal broadcasts.
Obstacles like concrete or steel walls and doors can also cause signal loss that disrupts your internet experience, so you’ll want to place the router accordingly.
Make sure your router or device isn’t in one of those dead spots every home seems to have. Hopefully, your remote working experience will see significant improvement over the next few days.