Are residential connections up to the strain of supporting homeworking in the long term?

With numbers of people now being asked to work from home regularly, inevitably making vastly increased usage of high-quality video services as well as video-on-demand, there are genuine concerns that overloaded networks will not be able to cope.

For months now we have all endured the frustrations of carrying out business operations over residential connections. We’ve dealt with the bandwidth battles, the security issues and the downtime that takes forever to resolve.

But is this any way to run your business in the long-term? Not if you need the same kind of reliable, superfast connection you enjoy in the office. Now that homeworking has become the new reality for the foreseeable future, your business and employees, deserve better.

Since the start of lockdown, the internet has become noisier than ever. Figures from service providers show a 30% daytime uplift in internet traffic and a 10% rise in demand for voice as more and more people connect from home, at a minimum. The truth is there is a reason why business broadband connections exist. Business fibre is the only connectivity that can reliably, securely, and cost effectively keep businesses running, so why not use it for your home workforce?

A business-grade internet connection is arguably more important now than it was when we were working at the office. The good news is, however, that it is now possible to access business-grade fibre connectivity for your homeworkers. The even better news is that it is not only cost-effective but may lead to operational savings in the long-term, when you consider all the benefits. One of the main benefits of a line that’s utilised just for business is that your employees will no longer be faced with sporadic bandwidth issues from sharing their connections with the rest of their household.

Media hungry content creators and businesses that demand 100% uptime may even adopt a premium business connection, such as a leased line, where traffic is not shared with any other user, ensuring that business-critical applications such as VoIP, video conferencing and email perform at the absolute best.

With the vast amount of data that we now share and handle online, security is a major consideration. So, don’t leave your business vulnerable.

Business internet packages typically come with one or more static IPs. This is an important feature for business connectivity because it’s easier for Domain Name Servers (DNS) to manage. A DNS is basically an address book for the internet. Every time someone types in your web address (using letters), a DNS service translates it to a corresponding series of numbers (your IP address)

Usually, your computer is assigned a new IP address every time you log on and by assigning dedicated IP addresses to individual devices, you can see who your network’s serving and better identify any rogue login attempts. For businesses relying on VPNs, static IPs can add a further level of insight and control. You can also use static IPs to manage fixed assets like CCTV and alarm systems. Plus, they’re vital if you want to access your computer remotely or run your own website server.

Business continuity is another key reason for using business connections for your home workforce. If you can’t afford for your internet to go down, even for an hour or two, working using residential lines, which come with no guarantees, could be a disaster waiting to happen. This is especially important for businesses that rely on large amounts of data, like law firms, media agencies, and those that are diversifying by connecting to clients online, like gyms offering online PT sessions.

So, are residential connections up to the strain of supporting a homeworking in the long term? The answer is simply no, and the already massive demand for homeworker connections is the proof.

When it comes to working from home – using data, video-calling, communicating online – you need a connection that’s built for business, not one that’s struggling to support you and everyone else in your home.

For more information, please get in touch with our team today.