We all live in a world where the internet is an essential part of our daily lives. It’s a means of communication and of finding out what’s going on in the world. For many of us, it’s where we work, where we socialize, and where we mind our at-home entertainment. It’s where we do an increasing amount of our shopping, pay our bills, and connect to healthcare, local government services and find information about everything from bus times to the weather next week.
If you’re a gamer, you know how important it is to have reliable internet. There’s nothing more annoying than losing your connection when playing free online casino games, especially if you’ve just used your NJ online casinos bonus codes. Even a slower-than-average speed can foul up your chances if you’re playing premium online slots for real money. Upgrading your internet means you can get the most out of online gaming sites like these.
Household essential
With the advent of the Internet of Things (IoT), the web isn’t just a portal for us to use for entertainment, communication and work, but a network to keep our household devices running smoothly as well. As our homes increasingly fill with “smart” items, from doorbells and lightbulbs to kettles, fridges and washing machines, a high-speed, reliable broadband connection becomes vital for these appliances to function as intended.
Standard internet connections and routers may be fine if all you’re using them for is surfing the web and checking emails via one desktop device, but the proliferation of different devices in the average family home or houseshare puts increased pressure on your shared broadband. Smartphones, iPads, laptops, gaming consoles, streaming boxes for your TV and other wi-fi connected items are all competing for the same bandwidth, and if your home internet isn’t up to scratch, then something is going to give.
Video calls
It’s not that long ago that video calls or video conferencing were only found in science fiction. Now we take free services like Skype and Zoom for granted, and during the recent lockdowns, they became an indispensable way of working from home and staying in touch with friends and family. But video calls are still extremely data-heavy and use up a large amount of your internet bandwidth.
If you don’t have a good enough internet connection, then you might experience low picture quality, delays and distorted sound. You might even find you’re getting cut off at regular intervals. None of this is good news for a work meeting, an online class or even a group social call. If you’re the one who can’t be heard clearly or keeps dropping out, then it’s annoying for the other participants too. Upgrading your internet package is the best way to ensure a high quality, stable connection.
Streaming
Streaming is the future of entertainment. Physical media is in decline for a number of reasons, including environmental awareness and a shortage of physical space in our homes. Most people now rely on streaming services like Netflix, Spotify and Amazon Prime for music, TV and films, not to mention the number of high-quality video games that can be streamed online.
Rather than buying bulky DVDs and CDs that you may only listen to or watch once or twice, that then sit on your shelves taking up space and gathering dust in ecologically unfriendly plastic cases, streaming gives you wider choice, reliable quality and the latest shows, films, documentaries and sports fixtures whenever you want them. What you don’t want, however, is degraded, pixelated picture quality or buffering every few minutes.
Although most streaming services give acceptable quality at standard broadband speeds, with an internet upgrade, you can take full advantage of 4k TV and HD shows. This is especially important if different people are streaming different things at the same time in your home. A better package will keep everyone happy and avoid tiresome arguments about who’s hogging the bandwidth.
Making the most of your devices
Chances are you now have way more connected devices than you did when you first set up your home broadband. Because of this, you may not be able to use them to their full potential, so ultimately you’re not getting your money’s worth. An upgraded internet package will also most likely have updated security features, which is vitally important. To stay one step ahead of the hackers and fraudsters, you need secure data encryption for your personal and confidential information, not outdated protection and protocols.
Working on the cloud
If you work from home even part of the time, then fast broadband is an essential part of your home office set-up. You can’t keep the boss waiting when you’re uploading files and documents to the cloud, and you need to be able to respond to requests immediately in real-time, not have to wait until your computer feels like it. In a remote working context, substandard internet just looks unprofessional and shouldn’t be tolerated. Get yourself a better deal!
Apart from all the above reasons, why not have the best or fastest connection available in your area? Shop around and take advantage of a highly competitive market. Sure, there’s no point in paying for super-fast speeds if you don’t need them, but having some wiggle room will future-proof your home against soon-to-come developments like online VR gaming and the fully-fledged Internet of Things.
Troubleshooting now
Take a speed test. How does your current speed compare to the fastest speeds available in your area, and the maximum speed your provider promised you? There are some factors that will always limit the max speed you can achieve, such as geographical location, but there are also simple hacks that can improve your situation.
You can improve your connection by moving your router as close to your main device as possible or putting it in the centre of your home to reach all devices within range and keep it away from other devices that use electromagnetic waves. Connecting a stationary, high-demand machine like a desktop PC, gaming console or streaming box to the router with an Ethernet cable can also give you a faster speed on that unit.
An internet upgrade can improve your online life in so many ways. There’s no need to struggle with your connection when there are speeds available to suit your needs.
