Remote working has become far more commonplace during 2020, thanks in no small part to the coronavirus pandemic. With many businesses having to shut down offices and other commercial units and travel restricted in many places to that which is necessary, home and remote working have come to the fore, and as a result, so have many problems not experienced when working from a central hub.
There are differences in remote working set-ups in terms of hardware, location, and how they work, so it is no surprise that there might be problems to overcome to get things running smoothly. Let’s have a closer look at some of the causes of the problems, what to check when you experience them, and how you may be able to fix them.
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Problems You May Experience
Problems with remote working often come from inadequacy in the available hardware and network. For example, when in the office you will be working with a network designed specifically for the purpose, with plenty of bandwidth and space available. If working from home or from a shared location you may not have access to such efficiency, and the following problems can come about as a result:
Latency – your usual office network will be optimized for low latency. Put simply, this means it will be designed to handle a large volume of data – everything that is happening in the office – in a short time with as little delay as possible. In other words, it will be as efficient as it can be. When working remotely you may find the network you are using is not optimized for low latency, and you experience quite annoying and limiting delays. This is not unusual in home networks or in shared connections, and there is not a lot that can be done other than find a different network to work from.
Jitter – jitter occurs when too many packets of information are trying to use the same connection at the same time. It is another consequence of bandwidth limitation and one that is common with shared networks and public internet connections. It can be solved by experts who may be able to change the bandwidth’s optimization but may also need you to change connections. Jitter can slow down communications to a serious level in some cases.
Packet Loss – packets are units of data that are sent and received across the internet, usually routinely and where your commercial network is concerned, also generally successfully. They are usually vital to completing a message or transaction. Packet loss occurs when one or more of the packets does not get to where it is intended. This can occur for many reasons, including lack of bandwidth or inadequate connectivity in other areas, and can result in serious problems.
The above are three of the main problems that may be encountered when working remotely, so let’s have a look at what you may be able to check to see where the problem lies.
What to Check
You may not be an IT expert but, in all three of the above instances, there is something you can check that might give you the cause and potential answer to the problem. Let’s have a look at each with a brief explanation.
Bandwidth – this is essentially the capacity of the network you are on, in terms of data sent and received. The more users on a system at one time, the more bandwidth will be used and the less efficient the network will become. You can check bandwidth by performing an inquiry – see online instructions on how to do this – but unless you are experienced the data may mean little to you. Put simply, if your problem is too little bandwidth you either need to talk to the internet provider and see if they can help, contact us and we’ll do what we can, or – for a quick fix – make sure you are the only user on the system at the time you need it.
Hardware – it could be that your problem is with hardware; maybe the device you are using is not compatible with the remote network or something is not configured. We can help, as can your internet provider, so in the first instance check everything is switched on and connected as required.
Internet Speed – your home network may not have the speed of your commercial one, and the only option, in this case, is to contact your service provider and see if you can upgrade.
Contact Us
If you have tried each of the above with no luck, then please don’t hesitate to contact us. Our support team will do all they can to help and will try and rectify your problem as quickly as possible.
