What broadband speed do you need for working from home

Whether you've got a designated home office set up in your spare room, or you've taken over the kitchen table as a makeshift workspace, your broadband has a job to do too.

If your video calls are lagging, your screen is freezing, or you're getting the occasional frantic "Can you hear me?", then your current broadband isn't cutting it.

Don't compromise your workflow with a poor connection.

Full Fibre gives you the faster speeds and reliable connection you need to work from home without the buffering, freezing and awkward moments.

But how much speed do you really need? Let's break it down.

Quick answer: What broadband speed do I need to work from home?

For some people, 250Mbps speeds are enough for everyday home working, including emails, web browsing, cloud applications and occasional video calls.

However, you may benefit from faster broadband if you:

• Regularly upload or download large files

• Use demanding applications

• Make lots of video calls

• Share your connection with other people in the home, who are streaming, gaming or working at the same time

In other words, there's no magic number. The right speed depends on what you're doing online and what everyone else at home is doing at the same time.

Which broadband speed is best for working from home?

Think about what you actually do online and how busy your household is. Here's our no-nonsense breakdown of our packages for remote-working roles:

Enter your postcode to check availability in your area.

Why does upload speed matter when working from home?

Download speeds get a lot of attention from other providers, but upload speed can be just as important for home workers.

Download speed is how quickly information reaches your device.

Upload speed is how quickly information is sent from your device to the internet.

When you're sending a large file to a client, backing up work to the cloud, sharing a presentation or joining a video call, you're uploading data.

That's why Grain offers symmetrical upload and download speeds on its Full Fibre packages. Symmetrical speeds mean your upload speed is the same as your download speed. So if your package gives you 500Mbps download, you'll also get 500Mbps upload.

What broadband speed is best for video calls?

For video calls, both your download and upload speeds matter. You need enough download speed to receive everyone else's audio and video, and enough upload speed to send your own.

The good news? With Grain, all our Full Fibre packages come with symmetrical upload and download speeds. Even our lower-speed packages have enough capacity for regular video calls, so you can't go wrong.

If you're working from home alongside a busy household, we recommend choosing a faster package, so you have enough capacity for video calls and everything else happening on your connection.

How to get the most out of your home broadband

Fast speeds don't matter if you've got a bad home setup. Here's how to make sure you're getting the best out of your internet connection.

1. Give your router some space: Your router isn't a piece of furniture; it's a piece of tech. Keep it somewhere open and unobstructed, rather than tucked inside a cupboard or behind other objects.

1. Go wired: If you're doing important calls, skip the Wi-Fi. Plug your device directly into the router with an Ethernet cable for a more consistent connection.

1. Check what's using your connection: If your connection seems slow, look at what else is happening on your network. There could be long forgotten devices still connected.

Why choose Grain Full Fibre for working from home?

Grain Full Fibre packages offer speeds up to 2Gig, with symmetrical upload and download speeds and unlimited data. And because we don't do in-contract price rises, the price you agree to stays the same for the duration of your contract.

While most providers make you share a fibre cable with neighbouring properties. At Grain, every home has their own personal fibre cable, so you're not sharing speeds or seeing dropouts at peak times when all your neighbours hop online.

Ready for better broadband?

Enter your postcode to see which Grain Full Fibre packages are available at your address.