Speed for remote working

billyhead

I noticed a couple of ISP offer up to 100mbs packages for a reasonable cost (cost goes up after a year). Would this be enough for someone working remotely to be able to attend Zoom meetings, avail of Skype calls etc? It won't be used for gaming or watching movies?

billyhead

Cheers so it should be more then enough to work remotely without any buffering or loss of connection👍

dam099

Packages advertised as up to 100mbps are usually VDSL (fibre only as far as a nearby cabinet). If you are pretty close to the cabinet you can get 100mbps but this falls off the farther away from the cabinet you are, could be as low as 7-10 mbps or worse. Some checkers used to give you an estimate of the actual line speed you will get, not sure if they still do.

If true fibre to the home (FTTH) is available to you the cost is often the same as (or even less than) the VDSL packages. Those will be advertised as 500mbps or 1000mbps/1 gbps. These may also say "up to" but in reality you will get nearly the full speed they advertise as it doesn't drop off in the same way.

7-10mbps should be fine for remote working in most cases as long as you can ensure there are no competing demands in your household when you are working.

billyhead

The cabinet if that's the NBP cabinet is about 10km away I think. Is it a faster internet connection if I connect the router they would send directly to the laptop. I presume it is.

billyhead

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120769742#Comment_120769742

I noticed one of those green cabinets beside the wall in the entrance to my housing estate so I should in theory get up to the 100mbs limit for the connection speed?

ULMarc

My up-to 100mbps FTTC connection gets me 65mpbs usually, 40mpbs at this moment. Speed aside, I've found the connection quality to be good. And it's been perfectly adequate for zoom calls, online gaming, Netflix, and so on.

I mean I'll take the FTTH when it comes for balls-to-the-wall downloads. But for day-to-day I've no issues. Then again, a household with teenagers might notice the interference a bit more.

You get a 14 day cooling off period if you want to order a package, try it out, and decide it's not for you.

CreadanLady

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120769775#Comment_120769775

That depends on whether the limiting factor in the connection is your wi-fi connection. If your wifi signal is poor (like you are a few rooms away from the router, or you have cheap equipment with crappy wifi antennae) .

If you have crap wifi but your connection to the outside newtowk is very good, then absolutely connecting directly to the router through LAN will be faster. However, if your router-outside network/internet connection is crap with only low Mbs, then niether the best Cat6 LAN connection to a gigbit router nor the best wifi in the world will make any difference.

It all depends on which part of the network has the pinch point.

shmeee

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120769742#Comment_120769742

Yes, check the line speed. Providers should be able to tell you this. I was buying a 100mbps package a few years back but the seller said the line speed was 24mbps due to distance from cabinet, fair play to him for saying it. And by god, it was bang on 24mbps and never much under or over. And that was plenty for 2 people WFH both on Citrix / zoom daily and general day to day Netflix, IPTV and browsing.

As said above, speeds are overkill for many people these days. I'd take a reliable connection over speeds which are erratic.

session savage

I broke free from Eir a few years ago and am with Tipperary Broadband.

Solid 50mb download and 12-15mb upload. More than enough and I have zoom/teams meeting, upload/download large files regularly, rmote assist on other pcs all of it while the kids are watching youtube or whatever.

100mbs is loads for remote working.

PS **** you Eir. I still despise your poxy guts I hope your upper management die roaring.