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

As for video conferencing software... More likely than not your employer has standardized on one or a few of these tools, and you should use those. If you've got room to pick and aren't sure which to choose, consider my experiences:

• Zoom: Best overall. Professional quality, scalable, reliable, and feature-rich.
• GoToMeeting: Runner-up. Professional, scalable, reliable, and feature-rich. Some of my colleagues ding it for having a "confusing" UI. I think their mistake is trying to use the web UI instead of downloading the desktop client or app.
• Webex: the UI is primitive and lacks sharing features present in many other tools.
• Skype: Second-class features, performance, and reliability.
• Google Hangouts: Limited feature set but very easy to use, especially if you're on GSuite. Great for small groups, scales poorly beyond that.
• Slack: an excellent chat tool with terrible video conferencing. Slow performance, frequent drops, hangs the app. Stick to typing for now!

I agree 100 percent that it isn't rocket science. My concern is that it isn't universal either. An explosion of home workers will greatly expand the number of people who don't have security factored into their connections. We don't have to solve the problem here, but FTers should make sure that their own work connections are secure - and, ideally, that their organizations make sure their coworkers' are as well.

A Cisco Meraki VPN device broadcasts my firm's wireless network and provides a VPN tunnel back. I need to grab my extra monitors from the office and set myself up for a few weeks of working from home.

We utilize Zoom and Skype. I love Skype's simplicity, especially for adding in a mobile caller to a meeting in progress. (Who knows, maybe Zoom has that and we have it turned off.)

What do you do for the background if you are video calling from home ?

Is there a simple DIY "Green screen" so you can put a "business -like" background behind you ?

Maybe a large bookshelf like a lawyers office :)

My tools for working from home
- a good wifi connection, I personally use Ubiquiti Unifi APs which has made wifi coverage throughout the home a non-issue
- a good chair! Can't afford the Aeron they used at the office but the cheaper alternatives isn't bad
- I'll second the recommendations for a comfortable headset, I still fall back to my trusty Bose QC20 which works reasonably well

The company I'm working with is based in Hong Kong and had to deal with thousands of employees working from home since February and during a few weeks in 2019, I'm happy that the VPN infrastructure survived...

For calls i find the apple airpods works best for me for a Bluetooth connections to my cell.
When i have my computer for Webex sessions, i'm using a AKG K553 paired with a ModMic attachment.

If your company makes you work from home for a period of time because of coronavirus, then take them home and bring them back when you return to the office.

It's a nice idea but my little home office won't take 2× 21inch monitors. They're also about 12 years old and might not make the journey to my house :p

Regarding headsets... when at home I don't need to use one. As long as the computer has a good microphone and speakers, there's no real need for a headset.

One thing I've noticed is that my iMac and Macbooks are fantastic in this regard - perfect sound and reception. I had the misfortune of using an HP Windows 10 laptop for a while for a client, and the microphone was dreadful - unless my mouth was within about 10 inches, nobody could hear me. It was the same with colleagues who also used the same type of laptop.

i've often thought that there is an opportunity there to come up with background pop-up screens. Perhaps they exist, I haven't looked. :)

You forgot Teams! Microsoft is discontinuing Skype for Business this year and replacing it with Teams. Teams is great.

Microsoft Teams has a blur background feature.

This is why they invented VPNs over a decade ago.

I have been teaching, coaching individuals and groups, and conducting meetings online using zoom for the last three years.

I use a chroma-green screen and depending on the meeting type I use a different background.

There is no simple/low-cost DIY green screen solution. I have a zoom room with a pleasant decorated background and a roll down professional green screen. There is also proper lighting for you and the green screen or background. If you don't do a proper setup it looks more amateurish than just your ordinary home office as background.

When I'm not traveling, I work from home. At home, I use Zoom for teleconferencing as well as MS Teams (if I have to).

I have my MacBook Pro 15 inch plugged into a USB hub which connects it do dual monitors and via ethernet to Gigabit ethernet (well 1gig down 50mb up) from spectrum. As a backup, my Pixel 4XL can provide my Google FI tethering (T-Mobile,Sprint, US Cellular) and I have T-mobile hotspot I can use.

Home network is Ubiquiti with an Access point in each room as well as ethernet switches where hardwire connections are called for.

Pretty used to and already set up for working from home.

Zoom does as well. It kinda works, but it's not perfect at detecting you vs. stuff behind you. I have a high-backed chair and it thinks the chair is part of my head sometimes. Zoom also has a setting that allows you to tell it if you have an actual green screen behind you.

One thing I hate about Zoom is that it allows meeting organizers to default webcams to on... which can be a surprise to those who aren't expecting it.

No surprises for me, electrical tape sorted that years ago! Of course, there is the very famous story about a now ex-C***o employee who forgot to end his webex....

Except Teams!

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...a8f6133c18.png

Ok, it looks like green screen is not as easy as I thought ,

What background would you use ? Go to the store and buy some drapes or material and hang it behind you ,
What about lighting ?

Thanks for your ideas

I just converted about a 8-4 person meeting tomorrow to a zoom meeting. I think we are going to do much with zoom and stagger employees that have to be on site. Challenging times.

Just spent an evening with someone that went through the Blitz, was evacuated at 6 years old, was carried from a bombed house by the ARP wardens, was laying in a gutter at 7 years old dodging German gunfire. I wouldn't even dare mention "challenging" in that context. Different times....but get real :)

It is very challenging times and it will get worst. It’s not as bad as the Blitz, which was probably not as bad as the Sack of Carthage for instance.

Zoom let's you pick a background photo (virtual background), I have mine set to mountains at the moment. It can look a bit weird with bulky headphones, but it works pretty well.

What does it matter what's behind you? Why would anybody care?

Maintain a professional image.