Improving My ComputerImproving My Computer

Employers are increasingly giving their employees the ability to telecommute, and some jobs are now fully remote with no need to go to the office. Working from home is convenient and can help boost your productivity, but it does have a significant downside—you're entirely reliant on your home's internet connection for your job.

If your connection is too slow, it can impair your job performance in numerous ways. Your connection to work may drop frequently, and you may be unable to fully use teleconferencing or remote desktop software. If you work from home, read on for four reasons to switch to a high-speed internet provider.

1. Increases the Reliability of Teleconferencing

When you're working from home, you'll likely need to periodically participate in video teleconferences. It's important for companies to make sure all of their team members are on the same page regarding work, and video teleconferences can be used as a replacement for face-to-face meetings.

With slow internet speeds, however, your connection to your employer's video teleconferencing server may drop out intermittently—it requires a substantial amount of video and audio data to be sent to you in a timely fashion. High-speed internet provides you with a much more stable connection, allowing you to speak to your fellow employees without worrying about dropping out of the conversation.

2. Improves Remote Desktop Experience

As part of your workflow, you may be required to log in to your work computer using remote desktop or another similar protocol. This is a connection that securely links you with your work computer and allows you to use it just as if you were sitting at the office.

This is one of the most convenient ways of working from home, but it's also quite bandwidth-intensive. Your computer at home and your work computer are constantly sending updates to one another. If your internet speeds are slow, you'll experience poor performance—your work computer's screen will appear choppy, and you may lose your connection intermittently. With a high-speed internet provider, you'll have a much smoother experience while working from home via a remote desktop—this helps you be more productive.

3. Boosts Download Speeds for Large Files

You may also be required to download large files from your employer while you're working from home. For example, someone who works in accounting may be required to download data tables containing a million or more rows. With a slow internet connection, this process can take quite a bit of time.

If you're required to do it at the start of every day because the files have been updated, you'll end up wasting a lot of time waiting for files to download when you could have been productive. The fast download speeds of high-speed internet minimize your wait times while retrieving large files from your employer and allow you to quickly start your day's work.

4. Provides Extra Bandwidth for Family or Roommates in Your Home

The internet speeds from your provider are shared across all of the devices in your home. If your roommate, spouse, or child wants to watch ultra high-definition video while you're working, it may consume nearly all of your available bandwidth—you won't be able to work effectively. Switching to a high-speed internet provider gives you more headroom before you've exhausted your bandwidth, allowing you to work in peace while your family or roommates use their own devices.

If your employer allows you to work from home or if your job is entirely remote, consider talking to a high-speed internet provider in your area and making the switch. Faster speeds will make your workday smoother and allow you to be more productive.