Working From Home & The COVID 19 Pandemic

With MKH Home Network Cabling & Access Points

The COVID 19 Pandemic has been challenging for most people.  It changed the way we shop, socialise and work.  Fortunately for our clients, we have been able to help with some of the problems that they have faced while trying to get back to work. You can read more about how people in the UK felt about the challenges presented, on the government’s website here.

Many of our clients have been working from home for a significant amount of time.  Though most people have Internet access these days, many of our customers found that their Wi-Fi connection just wasn’t good enough for the online meetings they needed to carry out for work.  Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Whatsapp and even Facetime require a stable and high-quality internet connection for smooth, high-resolution video and audio and a flakey Wi-Fi signal just won’t cut it.

What Caused The Problem?

Patchy Wi-Fi

Home broadband in the UK is generally reasonably fast and often works fairly consistently from the server to our front door.  The problem is that our homes weren’t built to allow Wi-Fi signals to propagate between rooms and not all Wi-Fi routers are created equal.  So even super-fast broadband gives poor and inconsistent speeds inside our home if our router is not up to the task.

Many customers had problems getting a consistent video stream because their Wi-Fi signal was poor in the room they chose to work in.  They either had to put up with it or move to a less suitable room in order to get a consistent Internet connection.  Some had already become aware of the problem because their patchy Wi-Fi signal made it difficult to streaming video from their router to their Smart TV.

Home broadband in the UK is generally reasonably fast and often works fairly consistently from the server to our front door.  The problem is that our homes weren’t built to allow Wi-Fi signals to propagate between rooms and not all Wi-Fi routers are created equal.  So even super-fast broadband gives poor and inconsistent speeds inside our home if our router is not up to the task.

Many customers had problems getting a consistent video stream because their Wi-Fi signal was poor in the room they chose to work in.  They either had to put up with it or move to a less suitable room in order to get a consistent Internet connection.  Some had already become aware of the problem because their patchy Wi-Fi signal made it difficult to streaming video from their router to their Smart TV.

Streaming Video Stuttering And Buffering

Poor Wi-Fi connections between computers and routers can mean that even a fast broadband connection can fail to smoothly stream online video to y our screen.  Most users will have seen a ‘Buffering’ message or had connection failures while holding video calls with work or family and while watching Netflix, Amazon Prime Video or other online content.

Corrupt or lost data packets, caused by Wi-Fi interference or poor signal strength causes video streams to stutter or buffer as data is lost and has to be resent from the server to the screen.

Wi-Fi networking causes more video stalls and buffering by default as the signal requires more encoding and error correction than wired Internet (Ethernet) as noise in the signal and obstacles corrupt data.

What Is The Solution?

I have installed many home networks for my customers since the start of the pandemic. Typically a full solution is to install cabling throughout the house to ensure fast broadband throughout.  This ensures that your computers and devices can be hard wired to your network for the very best broadband speed and consistency.

I can add Wi-Fi Access Points to those extensions to the network.  Each Access Point creates new Wi-Fi coverage and so after our work, you will have reliable Wi-Fi and fast wired broadband everywhere on your property.

Working From Home – The Problem With Single Routers & Wi-Fi

Remote working meant that many of us had to access our work, our work’s computers and our teams across the Internet, rather than in person at the office.  Many of these interactions required our computers, video conferencing and file transfers.  Even the slowest broadband is quite fast these days, but our own home networks are not always up to scratch.  Part of the problem is that we typically have just one router in one room.  The other rooms in the house may have greater challenges accessing the Internet at full speed.

So, if you found that your video calls were clunky, video and audio kept cutting out and files too ages to upload or download from your work, you may have found it very frustrating just trying to do your work.  Nobody needs the stress of poor Internet when they are just trying to do their work.

Online Gaming, Lag and Latency

Many of us play video games to unwind after work, or even in our lunch breaks.  When you play games online, timing is everything.  Delay between your game and the server online can ruin the gaming experience and leave you the loser through no fault of your own!

Lag, caused by a poor Internet connection, can cause online action to pause and for you to lose the upper hand.  As any online-gamer will know, a fast and stable Internet connection is essential for competitive online gaming. Reaction times are crucial in competitive games and if the action pauses, even for half a second, it can mean the difference between gaming life and death.

Online combat games such as Fortnite, PUBG, Minecraft, Call of Duty and Elite Dangerous are typical of this and there are only two ways to get the kind of broadband quality  you need to make them work well. Connect your computer (or Smart TV) directly to your router with Ethernet cabling or to install Wi-Fi Access Points on cabled Internet connections near or in each room you want to have broadband access.

Hybrid Solutions: Home Network Cabling With Extra Wi-Fi Access Points

During the pandemic we were able to help dozens more customers to achieve productive home working by Network Cabling their homes and adding in extra Access Points to cover different parts of their houses.  It is one thing to be able to make the Teams meeting, but quite another to find your Mobile phone data is being worn away to nothing because you can’t access the Wi-Fi you pay for, unless you are standing in the same room as your router!

MKH Aerials Bring The Best Broadband Internet Access To Your Whole House!

Obviously you can’t plug an Ethernet cable into your phone! Luckily though, by installing additional Wi-Fi Access Points onto Internet cables in any rooms where you and your family work, rest or play, you can stay connected all over your house!

Don’t suffer low-quality internet when you pay for high-speed broadband!  Let MKH install Home Network Cabling & Access Points in your home. Every home presents different challenges for us to overcome, so we like to visit and see your property before we offer you a competitive quote. rest assured our prices are among the best value and our service is hard to beat, so get in touch today and let MKH cater for your Home Network Cabling needs!