Whether only temporary or a new full-time normal, more and more people are working from home since the pandemic began.
Taking a work-from-home job requires a computer that is not only fast enough, but also secure enough for your employer.
Margie Cho was a bedside nurse for more than 30 years, so when her employer offered her the opportunity to work from home, she took it even though she admits she’s not a techie.
“I take care of placement of everybody that comes through the health system," Cho said. "Before we could even go home we had to test our bandwidth and we had to send that in to them, whether we would be accepted to go home or not, if that was fast enough for them."
Julia Campbell, a consumer connectivity expert at All Homes Connection, said, “We’re really seeing an increase in people upping their data caps and upping their internet speeds and having increased bandwidth."
Campbell added if working from home entails video conferencing, that will usually require an uptick in speed and bandwidth for most home computers.
When it comes to some of the biggest issues people run into when trying to accomplish their job from a home computer, Campbell said, “Resetting your router and seeing if there are any pre-existing errors that might be contributing to the lag."
"You can check for obstructions," she added. "Most people don’t realize that metal, brick and glass can do things to weaken your signal and interfere with your internet connection."
She also said be on the lookout for a new product that allows you to set up multiple nodes around your house to make sure you have consistent connection from various spots in your house.
When it comes to security, Campbell says most employers should supply the worker with a VPN, and there are many ways to combat hackers like hiding your network name and encrypting your WiFi router.
She also suggests clearing caches and resetting your router daily, using two factor authentication, and installing anti-malware and antivirus. You may want to update your software if it doesn’t do it automatically.
