Aug. 10, 2023 – Working remotely from home is more than just a passing trend. For millions of people, it’s now well ingrained in their careers and daily life, with some estimates putting the total percentage of Americans working at home at 26 percent of the workforce! Many homes have more than one person cranking away on their laptops or holding Zoom meetings.
And it’s not just the adults that need to utilize a home office. From research assignments to virtual schooling, your children may be just as dependent on a home office as you are. All of this at-home office busyness can really push your Internet to the limit – and that doesn’t even account for all the other everyday Internet activities like streaming TV series or movies.
Thankfully, Clearwave Fiber’s fast, reliable Fiber network helps you stay productive and more efficient online than other types of Internet services. Offering high speeds and generous bandwidth for online video conference calling and sharing large files, a Fiber connection can make all the difference for at-home efficiency.
But there are steps you can take to maximize your home office’s Internet performance and productivity. Below we provide some of our top suggestions for making the most of Clearwave Fiber’s high-speed Fiber Internet for your home office.
Tip #1: Upgrade Your Wi-Fi Router
Let’s start with the most basic problem – with more than one person using a home office, your home’s Internet is going to be more strained. Though Clearwave Fiber’s Fiber Internet is both extremely fast and loaded with bandwidth capacity, you still need to disperse Internet signal through your home – and especially to your home office.
However, many people still rely on a router that uses older Wi-Fi technology. Old routers frequently lack the power and improvements of newer technology to maximize the higher speeds and bandwidth that Fiber Internet provides.
If you’re still using a Wi-Fi router that was purchased prior to 2019, it’s probably time for an upgrade. Wi-Fi 6 (or 802.11ax) is the most recently engineered Wi-Fi technology on the market today. It’s designed to handle greater speeds and bandwidth than previous Wi-Fi technology, including Fiber Internet’s speeds of greater than 1 gigabit or more! So, consider upgrading your older Wi-Fi router to improve your home office’s shared Internet speeds and bandwidth with your fellow home office users.
Tip #2: Your Home Office’s Wi-Fi Router Placement Is Critical
As spiffy as an upgraded Wi-Fi 6 router is, you still need to optimize the position of your Wi-Fi router. Otherwise, you may run into sluggish speeds and general frustration.
Start by running a few speed tests in your home office – and be sure to try out different areas of the room while you’re running them, accounting for where your desks and devices are placed (or could be placed). Recall that too many windows or too much glass can weaken the signal of your Wi-Fi, as can walls and bookshelves. Other electrical equipment can interfere, too, depleting the quality and speed of your home office’s Internet.
Removing or at least minimizing obstructions to Wi-Fi signal can greatly enhance the efficiency of your home office. Also remember that raising the height of your router’s position often makes a substantial difference in its ability to transmit signal more strongly. So, try out different placements for your Wi-Fi router and speed test them throughout the day to ensure maximum speeds and capacity.
Tip #3: Video Conference Calls & Upload Capacity
One of the biggest frustrations remote workers complain about is the quality of their video conferencing. Remember that the issue with choppy, pixilated, and slow video calls is not just a matter of Internet download speeds – instead, better upload speeds and greater bandwidth capacity are what matter most.
Luckily Clearwave Fiber’s Fiber Internet also delivers higher upload speeds and bandwidth capacity than other types of Internet. Higher upload speeds transmit your video and voice back to your fellow conference call participants much more reliably. The greater the upload speed and capacity, the better the quality of the video conferencing.
If you have multiple people performing high-bandwidth activities (like conference calls) at once, our fastest speed tier can ensure you’ll have a great connection on every call and every device!
Tip #4 Better Planning Means More Productivity
With an Internet connection from Clearwave Fiber, you shouldn’t have to take turns on the Internet – but for your own sanity, you may need to take turns in the office itself! When you’re trying to get work done, someone else taking a video call in the same room can be a major distraction. Fortunately, a little planning can go a long way.
For example, the late afternoon may be a bustling time in the home, with remote workers trying to finish up for the day and kids arriving home from school with an evening’s worth of homework to complete. Perhaps this is a good time for your kids to get some exercise while you wrap up your own work, or you might take that 4:30 p.m. call in another room so your kids can focus on their homework before dinner.
By planning a consistent homework and remote work schedule for your afternoons, you can improve efficiency for at-home learning and study. And with our fast, reliable Internet, you should be able to split up when necessary and still get a great signal with fast speeds on every device and in any room in the house!
If you’re following the above steps but still find you’re having to take turns on the Internet, you’re not getting the excellent experience Fiber can provide. Contact us today to upgrade your speeds or troubleshoot your connection. We’re local and happy to work with you to ensure your Internet works great in your home office and beyond!
Learn more about what we have to offer for home Internet services by calling 866-404-3751 or clicking here.
