Worried about your Internet speed while working from home?

In a bid to slow the spread of the coronavirus, the government has now asked all UK residents to work from home if they have the capacity to do so, leaving only key workers having to commute to their place of work. This means that large swathes of the population are relying on internet speed to work remotely. With this, there has been speculation about whether the UK’s infrastructure can handle the surge in people accessing the internet at the same time, via home broadbands, 4G and other methods. Plus, we are all relying a little bit more on Netflix, Amazon Prime and other streaming services to keep us entertained in the evenings!

According to The Guardian, Vodafone (the world’s second largest UK telecommunication provider) has reported a huge 50% rise in internet usage as more people work from home. Others are turning to services such as Netflix and online gaming. However, Vodafone’s Chief Executive, Nick Read said: “We will strive to ensure that people stay connected to their family and friends, businesses can continue to run using remote working, our health services get all the support we can deliver and students can continue their education virtually.”

Most broadband companies claim that they are coping fine with increased demand across their networks with some stating that they expected the peak and that it’s not as high as the usage levels during evening peak times. The demand that we are experiencing during this time is very similar to the national holidays such as Christmas, when the majority of the population are at home. Despite this, several internet companies have announced they’re making changes to the way they work to reduce pressure on networks.

It’s also important to know that consumer consumption of data rises constantly, and providers are always upgrading their network to keep up with this, planning years in advance.

So, in a nutshell, yes, we are seeing a real surge in users online however this is expected, and providers are prepared for it, meaning you can stay connected and businesses can continue with the peace of mind that they still have access to excellent internet speed.

If you’d like to speak to someone about how to get the best out of cloud services and remote working, give our friendly team a call on 0330 002 2111. We are experts on Office 365, Box, VoIP, mobiles, landlines and of course business broadband.