Home Office Set Up Part Five — Networking
One of the most important factors in a work and/or study from home environment is networking. Without a proper networking set up, all the other factors will mean nothing and you may not be able to perform your tasks as intended.
When thinking about networking your home, you have to take in many factors such as where your modem/router is located. That will play a factor in whether you can hardwire your workstation or be working wirelessly. You also have to factor in the advantages and disadvantages of wired versus wireless. For wireless, you need to think which wireless band you should use whether it will be 2.4GHz or 5GHz. This post will discuss various things regarding the networking portion of working and/or studying from home and will also go a bit more in depth with what 2.4GHz and 5GHz for those who may not know much about them.
When considering how to network your workstation, always keep this mind, wired over wireless. You will always get a more reliable connection with wired over wireless. The reason is because wireless is susceptible to environmental interference. These factors include congestion, noise and interference. Typically, users are unable to differentiate between problems caused by WiFi and other problems in the access network or in the underlying applications. With a wired connection you will not have these same problems so your connection and speeds will be more reliable. Not everyone has the ability to run a wire throughout their home as we mention in the set-up post, so wireless may be your only option. If you find yourself in this predicament then you will have to figure out which wireless band is best for you.
Most modern routers or modem router combos have two bands, the 2.4GHz and 5GHz. The primary differences between the 2.4GHz and 5GHz wireless frequencies are range and bandwidth. They both have their pros and cons so here is a general overview of both to help figure out which one will fit your needs.
2.4 GHz
The 2.4GHz is an older wireless frequency so it shares the airspace with many devices. Devices on this frequency include microwaves, cordless phones, baby monitors, and garage door openers. Any device that uses Bluetooth will also share that 2.4GHz frequency. Now if you’re like many other people, you have many of these devices in your home and they will all cause congestion sometimes causing the 2.4GHz band to suffer. Of course, there are advantages to using the 2.4GHz band. This frequency can travel for longer distances through thick walls. So if your workstation is further away from your router, the 2.4GHz band will be your best bet.
5GHz
The 5GHz band is a newer frequency so it’s less susceptible to the interference that the 2.4GHz band has. Keep in mind that not all devices have access to the 5GHz band. If your device does not see it, there is nothing wrong as it just means that your device is older and it will not be able to connect to the 5GHz. Also if it is a laptop or computer, it may not have a wireless card that supports 5GHz.
The 5GHz will give you better speeds because not many devices share the airwaves so there is less congestion. Here’s an analogy to give you a better understanding of the 5GHz frequency’s position. If you and your partner are in a restaurant with thirty other couples all talking, you will have a hard time hearing what your partner is saying. However, if there are only ten other couples in the restaurant, you will hear your partner better and have a better conversation. The downside is that 5GHz has a harder time with longer distances. It struggles to penetrate through walls, so if you’re further away from the router then you will have lower speeds due to the distance.
Summary
In conclusion, if you have the option to hard wire into your workstation, then wired connection will always be your best option. Wired is more reliable and will give you the best internet speeds. However, if you have to use wireless and faster speeds are most important to you, then 5GHz is usually a better choice than the 2.4GHz since there will be less congestion. If you are forced to use wireless due to location and you’re close to your router, choose 5GHz. Also, if you have a lot of devices that use 2.4GHz and you are experiencing interference or intermittent connectivity issues, then 5GHz is probably a better option. If the wireless range is more important to you, 2.4GHz is usually a better choice than 5GHz since it can travel further and penetrate through walls. Also, if your router is in a central location and you’re farther away from it, choose 2.4GHz.
In part six we will go over troubleshooting.
