Better, Stronger, Faster: Get the most from your broadband at home

There are few things more frustrating than a slow internet connection. Whether you’re waiting for what feels like hours to load important projects, or looking on in horror as important video meetings dissolve into jumbled pixels and robotic squawks, connectivity issues nearly always result in wasted time and creative threats directed at the router.

In an office environment, broadband problems are usually resolved quickly, thanks to a dedicated IT team. However, now so many of us are working from home, we’re suddenly relying on a laptop, a kitchen table and a broadband connection usually reserved for online streaming or shopping. If something goes wrong with your tech at home, you’re the only IT specialist on hand to fix it. What’s more, if your broadband goes down regularly, it can quickly eat into the time you’d rather be spending on important projects, connecting with clients or meeting with your team.

Unfortunately, there’s no catch all solution for slow or intermittent broadband. There are however a few things you can do to diagnose what might be affecting your connection:

1. Slow WiFi connections: Use an ethernet cable to plug your device directly into the router. If your speed improves, it might well be that your workspace is simply too far away from your router. If this issue persists even at short range, the WiFi receiver in your device might well be the culprit. A simple firmware update can often solve your problem here.

2. High latency / ping: Latency is simply a measure of the speed at which information is passed between your device and the internet. High latency, or ping, can cause lag during video or voice calls, as well as slowing down upload and download times. It’s most often caused by a bottleneck on your network, with too many devices trying to send and receive information at once. Simply removing some devices from the network can temporarily resolve the problem, but longer term, investing in a faster broadband connection is usually the best solution here.

3. No connection at all!: If the worst happens and you end up without any connection at all, your first port of call should be the status update page of your ISP. This will give you crucial information about whether there’s a fault in your area when you can expect it to be resolved. On top of this, many ISPs now offer services like 4G backup, which ensure that you’ll stay connected to the internet, even if the broadband connection goes down.

As working from home becomes an ever more integral part of the ‘new normal’ for small businesses, slow and unreliable broadband simply won’t cut it. In the same way that spending long hours working from your sofa probably won’t do your back any favours, an internet connection that can’t handle the apps and software you need is only going to negatively impact your ability to work productively.

For small businesses making the switch to a remote working model, fast and resilient broadband has become an essential part of their toolkit.

If you’re curious about how fast your connection at home could be with Virgin Media Business, why not try out our broadband speed checker tool below?