More Latency in an Age of Remote Work

This funny thing happens whenever it becomes 7:00 pm in our neighborhood: the internet slows a noticeable amount. As is gets later into the evening, the internet speeds up again. What’s happening? It’s rather obvious. Every other household is streaming their show on Netflix too. As more and more people go to sleep, fewer devices are streaming, and thus your internet speed ticks back up.

This greater amount of latency is expected on a best effort internet connection since the ISP is only promising their best effort to the area covered by their network. A simple comparison can be drawn between a best effort connection and a freeway. Both can be fast, but as more people access these services, the slower the speed becomes.

While a laggy stream of The Last Kingdom is a slight nuisance, a laggy internet at work is a nightmare. But this is the reality we are now living in. At least while we are all working remotely.

If everyone who would have normally been at work, in a separate building, using their company’s dedicated internet connection, suddenly has to work from home on their own best effort connection then latency is bound to occur. Latency can be dangerous for businesses but it will be the new normal since the whole neighborhood is filled with other households working from home.

Conectrix’s best advice for people working from home who need guaranteed fast speeds would be to upgrade to a dedicated internet connection. While costlier, more money down is utterly necessary to keep certain businesses afloat. Not only that, but dedicated internet can be purchased as a subscription fee so users aren’t completely married to the connection method.

Have any more questions related to IT, the cloud, or remote work? Contact Conectrix and let us help bridge the gap between your company and the tech industry.