{"id":300,"date":"2015-03-05T09:27:44","date_gmt":"2015-03-05T15:27:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.textor.ca\/?p=300"},"modified":"2022-01-06T09:24:51","modified_gmt":"2022-01-06T16:24:51","slug":"a-better-home-internet-experience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.textor.ca\/a-better-home-internet-experience\/","title":{"rendered":"Forget a bandwidth upgrade! Try these 4 things to make the home internet experience better"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Seeking Better Connectivity<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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I work exclusively from home as a telecommunications consultant so a better home internet experience is critical. I made it better all despite having the smallest bandwidth package my ISP offers: 25 Mbps download & 2.5 Mbps upload.  I did have to upgrade at one point though. I initially had 0.5 Mbps upload. This is insufficient for video conferencing.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

The house has two smart TVs, two workhorse desktop PCs & three tablets\/smartphones. There can be concurrent sessions of Netflix running (Netflix running on HD only uses about 1 Mbps, Ultra-HD or 4K will require 15 Mbps \u2013 but that\u2019s the future). I often use the internet for voice & video conferencing for work; connecting to the USA and abroad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For all the techies out there, I should mention I live in western Canada, meaning all our internet traffic routes down to the USA (Seattle I think). All the Netflix and Google caching servers then are pretty far away. And if we need to reach eastern Canada the traffic routes down to the USA and then back up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How To Have a Better Home Internet Experience<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The principles I lay out here should work with any ISP and any geographic location. I need to stress this – Since I work from home my internet connection (and WiFi) must be highly functional. But only 25 Mbps? Here’s how I did it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. We want speed not bandwidth. I wrote a separate article explaining the difference: https:\/\/www.textor.ca\/bandwidth-and-speed-not-the-same-thing\/<\/a><\/li>
  2. Have the internet provider check the home\u2019s internet’s signal<\/em> levels. NOT bandwidth. They are required to repair any signal deficiencies, likely for free. This will help prevent packet re-transmissions (affecting speed) and is particularly important for voice & video. This kind of problem is unlikely to show up on internet speed tests.<\/li>
  3. Make sure the home computer is connected via wired Ethernet for performance reasons; especially if you feel that you don’t know what you are doing. This is because wired is a closed system where variables can be controlled. Wireless is an open system and the environment (and performance) is constantly changing. WiFi is not the responsibility of the ISP, although often blamed. If you’d like to optimize your WiFi click here<\/a> to read PixelPrivacy’s article “How To Find The Best Wi-Fi Channel For Your Router: A Step-By-Step Guide”.<\/li>
  4. Make sure home routing\/switching gear is top notch. $20 gigabit switches are fine, but routers under $200 will likely not function well. This is because routers are essentially PCs with purpose built software. They make them cheaper by putting in less expensive CPUs and less memory. A router above $200 will actually weigh more. This is a good thing. More CPU and memory takes more metal.