Telecommute is the word of the future. More people work from home than ever before. Legions of freelancers, work-at-home-moms or WAHMs, programmers, web developers, entrepreneurs and net moguls are launching their careers from the comfort of their couches, beds and home offices. As many businesses are opting for remote offices and a mobile workforce, internet becomes key in getting things done.
Working at home or telecommuting requires high speed, reliable internet that won’t fail you when most need it. As more and more people are joining this remote labor force, they are finding that regular internet doesn’t cut it. Many people who live in rural areas where normally the job selection can be quite scarce, find that telecommuting is ideal. However, the deal breaker is a viable internet connection. Dial up simply doesn’t serve for work. In fact, dial up, which has, for many years been the sole option for those living in remote or rural areas, doesn’t do justice to today’s web technology. Downloads take hours or even days and much of the applications on the internet simply aren’t meant for dial-up speeds. Dial up also ties up your phone line, which means you would have to install another line (and that’s not exactly cheap) to get your work done. If you don’t install another line, you could miss out on important calls, and you’d have to constantly switch between tasks, those slowing down your work speed and making you less inefficient.
When working at home, you need to take the speed, availability and functionality of your internet provider into account. Satellite internet can do more in one second than dial up can do in one minute. Satellite internet is available everywhere and anywhere, all the time. There are no geographic constraints. Speeds range from 1mbps to 5 mbps depending on your needs and the type of service package you choose. In order to keep that competitive edge, you need high speed; any delays will interrupt your work flow and your schedule and eventually you will lose money.
Bandwidth is also an important consideration. For those working in programming or design more bandwidth is of the utmost importance. If you use a video messaging system, open several different programs at once, watch videos, exchange information than you need an internet service that provides you with high enough bandwidth. Dial-up doesn’t even compete; but even DSL doesn’t compare to the amount of bandwidth you get with satellite internet. Satellite technology in and of itself allows for very high bandwidth. Any work requiring file transfers, uploads, downloads, streaming, basically your day to day tasks, call for a reasonably high amount of bandwidth.
Satellite internet was once an expensive option, but due to its growing popularity and availability, prices have gone down drastically. You can now get a satellite internet subscription starting at around $59 a month. That comes with 24/7 tech support, which is imperative if you work at home, free installation and multiple user accounts. Internet is the backbone of any home office. Think wisely when choosing your service provider. It could make or break your business.