Introduction
Let’s face it, the Remote Workforce is now a reality. The
amazing thing is that this has been launched in just a matter of a three
months, rather than the 3-4 years many Cybersecurity experts predicted it would
take. But given the unexpected uptick in the COVID19 positivity rate, the
Remote Workforce will likely become, more or less, a permanent scene that is
already starting to precipitate. There have also been Cybersecurity issues
involved with this; some have been worked out, while some need more smoothing
out.
One such example of this is the impact on the spike of
Internet usage, causing connections to be much slower than normal. According to
a recent survey that was conducted by WhistleOut:
Ø
35% of the respondents claimed that a weak
Internet connection prevented them from conducting their daily job tasks at
some point in time in the last few months;
Ø
65% of the video conferencing calls (primarily
that of Zoom) have either been cut, dropped, or even completely frozen while in
process, because of a strained Internet;
Ø
43% of the respondents said that they have had
to use their mobile hotspot to supplement their existing Internet connection;
Ø
83% of them claimed that it is impossible to do even
half a day’s work with a slower than normal Internet speed.
(SOURCE: 1).
What can be done to resolve this escalating issue? Obviously
putting in fiber optic cabling on a global basis will take quite a bit of time
to do. Thankfully, there are some other fixes that you can implement in the
meantime.
How To Make The
Most Of Your Current Bandwidth
Here are some quick tips:
1)
Consider boosting your Internet signal:
This just takes some simple
tweaking in your home router to boost your signal. For example, you should
consider relocating your router to a more central point within your home. By
doing this, the signals will be much stronger in nearly all cases. Preferably,
you should avoid walls and other such barriers. Instead, try to position your
router so that it is near an open space, such as a window, or a patio door. Also,
to juice up the Internet speed even further, you should probably get what is
known as a Wi-Fi Repeater, also known as a Wi-Fi_33 Extender. This device will
simply amplify your existing Internet connection strength.
2)
Test your Internet speed:
There are a number of free tools
that will allow you to test to see just how quick your Internet speed is. For
instance, a very reliable tool that you can use (and is also available for
free) can be seen here at this link. If
you discover that your Internet speed is actually slow, then your home network
could very well be what most call “saturated”. This happens when all the
members of your family are attempting to connect to the Internet at once and
using resources that are literally hogging up your bandwidth levels. For
example, this typically happens when you are trying to steam an Internet video,
which takes up a lot of processing power. A quick tip here is to try and limit
this kind of activity until after work hours. But saturation can also exist
from your Internet Service Provider (ISP). If you are on a lower tiered plan,
there is a good chance that your Internet speed will be throttled down, in
order to accommodate the other ISP customers that are trying to access the
Internet as well. The only fix to this is to upgrade your plan to a higher
tiered option.
3)
Change your work hours:
As we all know, traditional brick and
mortar locations are traditionally available from 8 AM to 5 PM. But with
working virtually, all of that can change. For example, the peak levels of
Internet usage are typically in the morning hours, usually from 8 AM to 11 AM. Perhaps,
with approval from your manager, you could start your workday at 12 PM or so,
after most video meetings have already taken place. Or perhaps you could even
work later hours in the night, or work on the weekends also, when the levels of
Internet usage are lower. This is especially true during the summertime when
people spend a lot more time outside.
4)
Set clear and distinct boundaries for non-work
Internet usage:
It’s not just parents that are
working at home, but many kids are also learning virtually from home as well. But
school hours vary, and with that in mind, you need to keep your children
occupied with other non-Internet activities that will conserve bandwidth while
you are working remotely. As previously mentioned, Internet based entertainment
can consume a lot of your bandwidth. Therefore, restrict this to after work
time and for just for a few hours only.
Conclusions
Overall, this article examined some quick and easy tips you
can implement that should help you get a higher degree of Internet bandwidth.
However, apart from this, you also need to determine the range of bandwidth
that the resources you use for work-related purposes are.
Also, a detailed chart of just how much bandwidth is being
consumed by the major video conference carriers (which includes Zoom, Microsoft
Teams, Google Meet, and Skype) can be seen here.
If you find that the above mentioned tips provided do not
help much with alleviating your slow Internet speed issues, the only other
option is to simply upgrade your existing plan to a higher tiered one that
offers the speeds that you need to work productively.
In this regard, you may even want to consider upgrading to a
business account, which offers the highest speeds possible. But before you
actually do this, make sure that your employer will help offset this cost,
based on a percentage of how much bandwidth is used for work related
activities.
Sources
1)
https://www.pcmag.com/news/a-third-of-remote-workers-say-weak-internet-has-hurt-their-productivity
3)
https://www.flexjobs.com/blog/post/work-from-home-slow-internet/
4)
https://business.frontier.com/blog/how-much-bandwidth-does-my-business-need/
5)
https://completetechnologyresources.com/is-your-internet-bandwidth-enough-for-remote-work/
6) https://business.frontier.com/blog/home-office-internet-speed/
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