Latest news with #internetConnectivity
Entrepreneur
26-05-2025
- Business
- Entrepreneur
This $300,000 Problem is Sabotaging Your Team's Productivity
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. Poor morale may slow a project, but a frozen screen stops it cold. Every remote workflow — from creative reviews to client demos — rides on bandwidth. Many leaders treat connectivity as a personal headache, but they usually miss the bigger threat. Unstable networks drain profit, push IT into crisis mode and hide behind the vague label of "productivity issues." Remote work is not a hurdle. The bad internet is. Audit your team's internet experience, not just their output KPIs focus on results, mainly tracking what happened, not why it happened. Targets sometimes slip, and managers blame the process or people, yet the real culprit often lives in the last mile. In March 2025, Broadband Genie surveyed 3,200 UK remote workers and found that only 55% of London respondents found their connections stable. Belfast fared worse at 4%. Cities with the weakest links also logged the most missed deadlines. Those outages never appear as a separate expense line, but they bleed margin all the same. Start making reliable connectivity visible and available. Ask teams to run a simple speed test at the start and end of each day for a week. Track latency, packet loss and retry events right next to sprint burndown charts. When a release overruns its timetable, you will know whether the culprit is code quality or congestion on the wire. Related: 4 Tips for Maintaining Productivity When Working From Home Equip IT with tools to monitor connectivity in real time IT cannot repair what it cannot see. Without visibility, hotlines light up, routers reboot and employees wait in line to speak with a technician. That wait is expensive. The 2024 ITIC Hourly Cost of Downtime report says 90% of midsize and large enterprises lose at least $300,000 for every hour critical services stall, while 41% watch losses climb past the million-dollar mark. While most incidents last minutes rather than hours, the math still hurts. Install lightweight agents on every company laptop to sample throughput and jitter. Feed those readings into a live dashboard that displays regional heat maps. The moment packet loss spikes, engineers see a red square instead of a vague complaint on Slack (or Teams, whatever platform you use for communications). Authorize the network team to reroute traffic or spin up a backup tunnel as soon as the dashboard flashes. Visibility turns firefighters into forecasters and sends the overtime line in the IT budget back under control. Standardize network expectations across home and office Almost all companies these days would never issue a decade-old laptop anymore, yet many employees still rely on bargain broadband that collapses during a routine video stand-up. Treat bandwidth like any other asset. Publish a baseline, maybe 50 megabits down, 10 megabits up, latency under 50 milliseconds to core services and fund a stipend the same way you cover monitors and chairs. Require a three-minute speed test during onboarding and schedule quarterly retests. When someone moves or travels, ask for a quick verification run before the next client demo or internal presentation. For coworking spaces and shared offices, maintain an approved list that meets your technical bar. Consistency shields brand reputation. Clients see crisp video, partners experience punctual demos and employees stop wondering whether a glitch is local or global. Clear standards also remove the stigma of "my internet isn't good enough," which turns an individual problem into an organizational fix you already budgeted. Related: Stop Blaming Remote Work for Your Productivity Woes Invest in infrastructure that adapts, not just supports Workload demand changes by the hour — from a 4K video upload one minute to a light chat the next. Legacy VPN gateways choke under that routine, and a single broadband link dies the moment a big truck clips your fiber wires. A software-defined WAN, by contrast, reroutes traffic across multiple carriers in milliseconds. If the wired connection drops, LTE or 5G backup keeps voice and video running. Add zero-trust edge services so each user's security policies travel with them, no matter where they log in. Automation further makes the difference between resilience and roulette. A self-healing backbone senses congestion, prioritizes real-time voice traffic and isolates suspect devices before anyone reaches for the keyboard. When done properly, engineers reclaim the hours they once spent combing logs. Finance sees network spend shift from cost center to competitive edge. Most importantly, teams stay in flow instead of asking, "Can you hear me now?" for the third time in one meeting. Close the loop between connectivity and culture Employee surveys often rank "tool frustration" near the top of morale killers. Stable links erase that pain without a single wellness program. Reliable meetings end on time. Uploads finish before the end of the shift. If every remote team experiences the same high-quality connectivity, people remember why they chose remote work in the first place — autonomy without annoyance. Less friction breeds trust, and trust fuels retention and reduces the recruiting bill. Connectivity now sits beside payroll, and data security on the enterprise risk register. Audit it, monitor it, standardize it, automate it. Do those four things, and "bad connection" vanishes from Monday reports along with the hidden drag on quarterly targets. Culture initiatives still matter, but they thrive only after the network holds steady. Fix the connection and watch your remote teams move at hyper speed.
CNET
24-05-2025
- CNET
How to Extend Your Wi-Fi Outdoors This Summer
For most of us, the Wi-Fi signal usually ends at the back door. If that includes you, your laptop, projector or big-screen TV might be unable to connect to the internet for a big game or a movie night. You can move your router as close to your yard or front porch as your Ethernet cable will take you, but that won't always solve the problem. CNET With the increasing number of outdoor smart devices -- including lights, security cameras and garage door openers -- you need to be able to extend your Wi-Fi outside and beyond your home's exterior walls. That can be tricky, but with the right hardware, it'll be no time before you're streaming video while enjoying your garden, or posting pics to social media from your front yard. (For more Wi-Fi tips, check out why your router may be in the wrong spot and take a look at our home internet cheat sheet.) If you want to extend your Wi-Fi range outside, try a weather-resistant device Most options our CNET writers have explored over the years don't require drilling holes or running new wiring outdoors. Still, getting reliable, fast Wi-Fi outdoors may take an initial investment. Setting it up the right way may cost more initially but it will require little maintenance and give you great coverage in the long run. Using a Wi-Fi device meant to be left outside may be your best bet. There aren't many cheap options so you'll have to decide which setup will work best for your home. An outdoor Wi-Fi extender -- sometimes called a wireless access point or wireless repeater -- is the most straightforward option because it's the only solution that involves installing hardware outside. Many of these devices are enterprise-grade but some manufacturers have consumer-grade outdoor extenders, too. These devices are made to be exposed to the elements year-round and have hardware capable of communicating with your router wirelessly to give you great Wi-Fi coverage outside your home. Locating local internet providers The first step is to find an extender that's compatible with your current router, or you can buy a new router and extender to upgrade your entire network. There aren't a ton of wireless extenders designed for the outdoors, but a few notable manufacturers are Netgear, Ubiquiti, EnGenius and Hawking. Next, check the packaging's ingress protection rating and the temperature range the device can withstand. The IP rating defines the device's weather-resistance, mainly against dust and water. The highest rating is IP69, which means it's totally protected against dust and can withstand long periods of immersion underwater. This indoor/outdoor access point is barely larger than a soda can -- and certainly less conspicuous. Ubiquiti Another option that's a little more of a complicated outdoor access point -- like the Access Point U6 Mesh from Ubiquiti -- allows you to set separate modes for the 2.4GHz and 5GHz networks. The setup is slightly more advanced, but you don't have to drill holes or run new cables. You set your 5GHz band to wireless bridge mode and the 2.4GHz band to access point mode. This makes your 5GHz band a dedicated backhaul link to the router and allows your outdoor devices to connect via 2.4GHz. This setup limits your speed a bit but you should still be able to take full advantage of your 2.4GHz bandwidth and the additional range that comes with it. A brand-new option, released in May, is the Omada EAP772-Outdoor, a Wi-Fi 7 outdoor access point made by TP-Link. It's geared toward businesses -- as evidenced by its $250 price -- but you could effectively use it for your home's outdoor patio or front porch. It has an IP68-rated weatherproof enclosure, so it should be durable for outside service, and it's also future proof, with the latest Wi-Fi 7 technology. (Note that TP-Link is currently under investigation by the US government for ties to Chinese cyberattacks and could potentially be banned this year.) Indoor mesh Wi-Fi systems are easier, but more expensive Another option is to take advantage of an indoor mesh Wi-Fi system. These usually come with one router and one or two satellite units and can cover up to 5,000 square feet. The most recent data from the US Census Bureau shows that 50% of American homes are between 1,800 and 2,999 square feet, and an additional 27% are 1,799 square feet and less. The bottom line is that most of us don't have homes as big as 5,000 square feet so with the right placement you will get decent coverage outdoors with a mesh system. You may sacrifice a little speed or coverage indoors by moving the satellite units but most of the best mesh systems are expandable and can add additional units. Each satellite unit needs only an electrical outlet to plug in the power adapter. No Ethernet cable is required. To extend your Wi-Fi outside, place the mesh router central in your home and put the satellite unit, or units, as close to the exterior as possible. There is a limit to how far apart you can place the units. For example, Asus support recommends placing each one within 10 to 15 meters (approximately 33 to 50 feet) of the other units. Linksys advised one of our writers that its indoor, three-piece Velop mesh system can help with outdoor coverage. Each unit can cover about 2,000 square feet so if you place one of the units 5 to 10 feet from an exterior concrete wall, your outdoor coverage can improve. Everyone's home environment is different so your results may vary. Your best bet is to place the satellite unit near a window or door. The Linksys Velop mesh system can cover up to 6,000 square feet, including extending Wi-Fi outside, depending on placement and your environment. Linksys There are more potential problems with this setup, though. Generally, most mesh satellites link directly back to the router, not to the closest satellite and then back to the router. This means you won't be able to wirelessly daisy chain them in sequence to stretch your signal in one direction. This is part of the reason it is best to place your router central in your home. Also, your exterior walls still will interfere with and weaken your signal, especially on 5GHz. You may have to play around with the location to figure out which spot will work best for outdoor coverage in your environment. If you aren't familiar with Wi-Fi signals, they are measured in decibel-milliwatts. The signal reading will be negative, so closer to zero is better. You want a signal between -60dBm and -30dBm (which is best). That's your sweet spot. Your signal is near nonexistent if you see something around -80dBm or -90dBm or lower. Eero 6 Plus is an affordable mesh option to help extend Wi-Fi range outside. Ry Crist/CNET The price of mesh systems has begun to decline but they can still be quite expensive. Still, you shouldn't need to spend more than a few hundred dollars for a decent, up-to-date system. For instance, Amazon's Eero 6 Plus performed well in our tests and the three-piece system can cover up to 4,500 square feet for about $225. You might be tempted to leave an indoor router or satellite unit in a covered area outside or a weatherproofed enclosure. This may work in the short term but the risk factors are high. The device could overheat or freeze. Humidity is also a factor, as well as foreign objects like dust and insects, which can clog up the device's vents. Not to mention that leaving an indoor device outside will void your warranty. Indoor range extenders -- cheaper but less reliable for extending Wi-Fi outside You can replicate the mesh setup mentioned above with a regular router combined with indoor Wi-Fi range extenders or repeaters. This option is a little more affordable, with the extenders taking the place of the mesh satellite units. This approach's setup is slightly more complicated but you shouldn't have much trouble following the quick start guide included with the extender. Many newer devices, such as the well-tested D-Link EaglePro AI, are designed to work with different routers. D-Link's EaglePro AI is compatible with most routers. Chris Monroe/CNET Remember, most wireless extenders will cut your Wi-Fi in half because they receive the wireless signal and then rebroadcast it using the same radio on the same channel. Expect your speeds to be slower when connected to an extender instead of the router. One way around this is to use a tri-band extender with an extra 5GHz network that can act as a dedicated link to your router. This will help you get the maximum bandwidth out of the extender. Remember that many routers also work as extenders so another option is to buy a new router and use your old one as a wired or wireless extender. Check your current router to see if it can function as a wireless access point or extender. A new router will most likely give you better coverage, including outdoors, so using the old router as an extender could give you the extra boost in Wi-Fi coverage that you need. Between the two setups, the mesh system's big advantage over the router plus extenders is that the mesh devices create a single network so you don't have to reconnect to Wi-Fi when you move from room to room or outdoors. In general, mesh systems are designed so that your phone or laptop will automatically connect to the closest mesh unit without issue. When you have an extender, you have two networks, one for the router and one for the extender, which you may need to switch between when you move around. Plus, having two networks could cause interference with each other, especially on 2.4GHz. Your last resort for extending Wi-Fi outside? Powerline adapters One inexpensive option is using powerline adapters, which use your existing in-wall electrical wiring to extend your signal. You can plug some into an outdoor electrical socket but you'll be hard-pressed to find an affordable one that's weather-resistant. An indoor powerline adapter can also overheat if you plug it into a covered outlet outdoors. A temporary solution would be to use an indoor Wi-Fi powerline adapter, such as the Zyxel Powerline series, which you plug into an indoor outlet near where you need better coverage. Your range outdoors won't be great, but it should improve your current setup. What's the bottom line? The simplest option to extend Wi-Fi outside is with a mesh system and additional satellite units. This should give you a few hundred square feet of coverage outside your home. Mesh systems can be expensive, but the setup is usually easy for novice users. Theoretically, the best option would be to use an outdoor extender, but only a few consumer-rated products are available. TP-Link also offers two outdoor units -- the Deco X50-Outdoor, which is certified water- and dust-proof, and the Omada EAP772-Outdoor. We haven't had a chance to test these units, but we will update this post as soon as we do.
