Running a business from home means you will depend on your internet connection. It basically keeps your company afloat, meaning that internet problems hit heavier than normal. If you’re just watching Netflix at home, internet issues can be annoying – but they’re not devastating. As you run a home business, internet concerns can literally mean you miss out on customers and lose money. 

In this post, we’ll identify your two biggest internet issues and how you can combat them. This will leave your home business with a solid connection that never lets you down! 

Slow Speeds

Having slow internet can kill your home business as you waste so much time waiting for things to load or buffer. It inhibits your ability to make video calls and can make simple tasks much more tedious. 

Slow speeds are usually caused by the following things: 

• Your internet service provider capping the speed based on your plan
• A lack of bandwidth, meaning speeds slow down when multiple devices are connected

You can address both issues by taking out a new plan and getting extremely fast gigabit internet. However, my suggestion is to have a separate connection for your business. Your home internet is used by everyone else, meaning your business devices are the only ones connected to the new connection. It improves the bandwidth and ensures you have the fastest speeds all the time. Plus, it can be written off as a business expense! 

Connection Drops

Your internet is really fast, but the connection dips in and out quite regularly. This tends to happen during busy periods when loads of people use the internet, meaning you can go 10, 15, 30 or even 60 minutes without a connection. 

You may also see drops due to the WiFi not connecting or needing to reload, which is a quick issue to fix as you simply switch to an ethernet connection. 

As for other connection drops, you’ll solve most problems by getting a better internet plan and keeping your business line separate from your home one. Also, try to work outside of the internet rush hour time – which is usually in the evening when everyone is home from school/work. 

One final solution is to use your mobile device as a backup internet connection if your internet is down for maintenance or problems. Simply connect to your phone and use mobile data as a quick fix until everything is back up and running. You should only use this in emergency situations as your mobile data plan may not have unlimited usage, so you could end up paying loads of extra money for it. 

For the most part, your home business internet concerns are dealt with when you tackle slow speeds and connection drops. If possible, you really should look into getting a separate connection to use with your business devices. It clears everything up and means your internet won’t be affected by anyone else in your home – like your kids streaming things in 4K! Remember, if you want a successful home business, you need a good internet connection to keep everything running.