Work from home tech thread
 

Thought it might be good to start a thread for the folks that are now working from home so we can exchange ideas on what works and what doesn't.

Video Conferencing.
Zoom is great. Very scalable and easy to set up.
https://zoom.us/

I have not used these guys in years but Blue Jeans is also good https://www.bluejeans.com/

Home Internet
A good Wifi router is key. I love this one. https://www.netgear.com/home/discove...k/default.aspx lights up all three stories of my house. If you have dead zones check out a Wifi Mesh solution
https://thewirecutter.com/reviews/be...tworking-kits/

Phone
Chances are you will be using your mobile. If the cell coverage in your area is weak check out your carriers WiFi calling options. ATT, Verizon, and T-Mobile all offer it and it allows you to connect via your home, or any other, WiFi instead of cell site. Works great

I would also suggest investing in a good blue tooth headset. I use the Jabra Evolve 65

We're on RingCentral and so far it's working well. Audio through the computer sounds good, so no need to use the phone at this time.

Another headset that I find works well with connections to a computer (with an USB dongle) and a cell phone through Bluetooth is the Sennheiser MB Pro.

At home I have gigabit internet (30 mbits/s up) and a high end ASUS router. No issue for me on the networking side. My company uses Skype for Business and so far no performance issues with video conferencing when my whole team works from home on Fridays. I have an iPhone and I use standard Apple earpods instead of a Bluetooth headset. I much prefer a wired connection to my phone.

I've been using Skype for years but we are switching to Zoom. We have a pro account for a number of users that I need to switch over to. I've used it before, I have some collaborators who use it, but I haven't done the meeting initiation part of Zoom yet.

Companies that let employees work from home without confirming the security of their home networks are opening up huge security holes. It's only a matter of time - and probably not much time - before the bad guys start jumping through these holes and making off with the corporate crown jewels. The collective database exposure of all these home workers can dwarf exploits like the data thefts from Equifax, Target, and all the others you've probably heard of.

Access to Corp networks via secure VPNs has been common for years. It is certainly possible to connect securely, scalability is the bigger challenge. All of sudden having hundreds, if not thousands, of new users accessing remotely is a challenge.

I am using a Plantronics headset connected to my laptop which has worked surprisingly well. I also got a spare dock from my employer for my laptop, so now I have the same setup at home that I have in the office.

I've done primarily work from home for several years. While several of my colleagues have invested in expensive boom microphones that make them look like radio broadcasters I've consistently gotten great results from the built-in mics on my Apple laptops.

One of the more misunderstood data points is home internet "speed". The more accurate term is capacity. A 5 Mbps Youtube stream is not faster on a 100Mbps connection than a 50Mbps connection you can just handle more of them simultaneously. Here are some general measurements

HD Youtube or Netflix Stream = 5Mbps
4k Stream = 13-15Mbps
Home video teleconferencing = 4-6Mbps

This means with a 50 Mbps connection you should be able to manage multiple streams and still talk and do video. A key congestion cause can be game and software downloads and file sharing (bittorrent). Tell the kids to download the latest from Steam overnight not during the day.

One of the best things you can do to increase performance is get a new router. Some of the old, cheap, routers maxed out at 25 Mbps.

I trust my company to ensure that when I connect using the procedures they lay out, I am doing it securely.

In terms of my home set up, I am not a power user and am content with using my laptop and its mic and camera.

A good monitor and USB dock.

Where I work, which isn't in the US, we're testing the IT systems tomorrow. We've been ordered to work from home to see what works and what don't. Individuals have certainly worked from home before but management worries what happens if everyone does. So a test run to make sure any problems are sorted before we're forced to work from home.. I know at least one colleague that will find it challenging to connect and at least one that will find it challenging to do any meaningful work...

I have 2 screens at work which, without a doubt, increases my productivity. I'll struggle to persuade IT I need the same set up at home.

Three good monitors and an UltraDock :D