Is wireless internet for working from home right for your organization?

Today's enterprise applications benefit from fast, reliable and secure internet access—something that may have been taken for granted when working from the office. With hybrid and remote work remaining a permanent feature for many organizations, employers and employees alike may need to rethink their internet for working from home.

Just like workers in the office, remote workers can depend on technology such as the cloud, video conferencing platforms, analytics platforms and machine learning to do their work. These applications can create and consume enormous amounts of bandwidth that a residential internet connection may not be able to accommodate.

As companies embrace remote and hybrid work, it makes sense to take a close look at the technology that their employees use. Just as employees may have a work-issued smartphone and laptop for working at home, some organizations are now supplying enterprise-grade internet connections to ensure employees can stay productive and secure.

In order to replicate the in-office enterprise internet experience within the homes of remote workers, businesses can use wireless technology, sometimes called fixed wireless access or FWA to deliver an ultra-fast and reliable connection.

Wireless business internet is typically a fixed wireless access (FWA) solution that provides business-grade internet connectivity. Wireless signals are sent from nearby cell phone towers and received by a specialized router inside the employee's house. The employee then connects to this router for their Wi-Fi network, allowing them to access business internet for work.

For some low-bandwidth tasks such as email, messaging or using internet-based applications, wireless business internet provides connectivity that allows them to leverage the same level of applications and productivity at home as they do in the office.

Residential home internet connections may lack the bandwidth, security features and reliability that business users require, especially if an employee working at home has to share that internet connection with a partner, children or roommates who consume bandwidth for their own work or activities such as online gaming or video streaming. At the same time, a residential internet router might not be built to provide the same level of assurance and enterprise-grade security features as the hardware back at the office, exposing corporate networks to unnecessary risk.

Working from home with fast and reliable internet is necessary for many professions and the applications they use. Here are a few ways wireless connectivity can unlock new capabilities and increased productivity for remote employees.

• Collaboration: Forget about going into the office for a meeting, traveling to visit a client or even a frozen screen. Wireless business internet can enable crystal-clear video conferencing, livestreaming and video streaming, so employees at home can feel like they're in the room with colleagues and prospects.
• Augmented and virtual reality: Industries such as architecture, construction and design all depend on detailed Computer Aided Design (CAD) models to build everything from consumer products to skyscrapers. Wireless connectivity over 5G enables designers and engineers working from home to use augmented reality to bring designs to life, conduct virtual walkthroughs and collaborate with others in virtual worlds in real time
• Internet of Things: More and more of the physical world is being digitally connected. With wireless connectivity, a manufacturing supervisor working from home can remotely monitor and manage equipment at several different facilities, gain new visibility into infrastructure performance and identify opportunities for preventative maintenance

With a wireless connection to the internet for working from home, employees and their organizations can address disadvantages remote workers may have previously struggled with compared to an in-office experience.

While it's possible to run a hardwired enterprise internet connection to an employee's house similar to what you would have in a new office or branch, that approach simply isn't always scalable, cost-effective or even necessary.  Organizations may need to deploy business-level internet for working from home to dozens, hundreds or even thousands of employees that will be working in an environment where a limited number of assets are leveraging the connection  (i.e., laptop, corporate phone & printer only).

By deploying a wireless work from home internet solution, you can save on  the installation, maintenance and management overhead enterprise grade lines would require—not to mention the long wait it could potentially take to coordinate installation. In fact, most employees will be able to set up their wireless business internet router within minutes, and without any tech support at all.

Because the router is controlled by the employer, the corporate IT team can profile equipment in advance and maintain visibility into the employee's network bandwidth, latency and security, keeping them in control of how employees connect while allowing them to ensure a smooth and efficient onboarding and maintenance experience for their most important asset: their employees. At the same time, the wireless business internet router is usually deployed and maintained by the internet service provider, allowing IT to offload those tasks, so they can focus on other initiatives.