3 tips for quicker uploads!
Is your speed slower than slow?
It’s easy to take for granted how much an office environment facilitates straightforward working. When you need a file, you download it. When you need to send it to someone, you either upload it, or you just send it. However, with a shift to working from home, many home broadband networks tend to be vastly slower than their business counterparts. This of course is to be expected, with home internet connections designed for households, not business! Many home networks have upload speeds that are a fraction of what you would find at work. As such, you may encounter issues when trying to upload files. Here’s some steps that should make things faster!
Reduce Usage
If everyone in your household is using the internet at once, this may be slowing your upload capabilities. Pause your Netflix & YouTube, curb any large downloads and halt any generally heavy internet usage. This will allow your upload to go ahead uninterrupted.
Watch out for interference
Make sure your router is within a sensible range to your device, and move it away from any obstructions that could be weakening signal strength (walls, cupboards, etc.) – this can make a massive difference! When using WiFi, be wary of anything that could be blocking or tampering with your wireless signal. Microwaves for instance, can contribute to a slowdown in speed.The latest weapon in the home users arsenal is mesh networks – these small devices often plug directly into a power outlet and help improve signal across your home. They also let you control devices. At the moment, Amazon and Currys are doing a 3 box mesh network extender for only £60 – this even gets the internet into my garden! Additional options would be power line adapters, which use your existing electricity wiring to help provide internet across your home, but these are less cost effective than mesh network options.
Compression
Another method you can take advantage of is splitting your files up, or putting them into a zip archive. These two options can help reduce the size of the file you’re uploading, which can allow for an easier and quicker upload. Place your files in a folder, right-click it and then look for the “Compress…” or “Zip…” option.
Bonus Tip: Test your bandwidth!
Tools such as speedtest.net should be used to check your speed. Too slow? Try moving your PC or router as previously mentioned.For example, if your upload speed is 10Mbps, expect a 100MB file to take roughly 76 seconds. A 5Mbps upload speed of the same file would be around 152 seconds, etc. The slower the speed & larger the file, the longer the upload!
Making use of the suggestions we’ve provided above will assist in speeding up your upload time and help reduce the stress of waiting for that all important document to get where it needs to! If you have any questions around anything mentioned in this article, please feel free to contact us.
