Broadband for working from home

Overview

With more of us working from home than ever before, fast and reliable internet is necessary to successfully work in your home office. We can help you to understand what broadband speed you need and how to ensure your home has the necessary coverage for those important calls.

Working from home internet requirements

Working from home requires stable and consistent internet broadband, so your connection doesn’t drop at crucial moments. Here are some questions you may require answers to:

What is the minimum speed for working from home?

For the average household, you’ll need a minimum of 25 Mbps. However, the right minimum speed will depend on how you use the internet. Sending emails and web browsing are considered lightweight tasks, whereas uploading and downloading large files demands more from your connection. Speeds of 150 Mbps or more can be beneficial in ensuring your connection is work from home ready.

You can do a speed test to check the speed of your current provider. Check your internet speed

What kind of coverage do I need?

Another factor to consider when choosing your broadband provider is the coverage that’s offered. You may want to opt for a WiFi booster with your broadband plan to ensure consistent coverage throughout your home, especially if you live in a larger building. Walls, floors, and even electrical appliances can interfere with your WiFi – which is why we never recommend putting your router in your kitchen.

New routers will offer both 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands, with 5GHz offering a stronger, faster signal. If you do use a WiFi extender, this will help carry both of these bands throughout your home and improve your WiFi speed. Our Pro II Broadband router offers a 6GHz band, using the latest WiFi 6E technology. Learn about Pro II

Work from home broadband plans

At Vodafone, we have plans suitable for all budgets for working from home. If available in your area, our full fibre plans will offer a faster connection so you can achieve speeds of up to 2.2 Gbps*. Full fibre uses a fibre-optic cable, allowing for much faster upload and download speeds. Find out more about full fibre

Our Pro II Broadband plan offers the best working from home experience. Powered by WiFi 6E, three devices work together to help optimise your signal, with the Super WiFi 6E Booster extending your signal for coverage throughout the home. What’s more, you’ll stay connected with 4G Broadband Back-up, in the unlikely event your internet goes down – so you won’t miss that important video call. Learn more about Pro II Broadband

If you live rurally, consider mobile broadband. It may be difficult to achieve fast broadband speeds due to the remoteness of the area you live in. If you have strong mobile coverage, you could get a mobile WiFi device that uses a 4G or 5G signal.

Our GigaCube device is a portable wireless router that easily connects up to 64 devices with a data allowance to suit you. Best of all, the portability of a GigaCube means you can take it with you if you travel for work and need a reliable connection. Learn more about GigaCube

Tips for the best broadband when working from home

Happy with your broadband plan but struggling at home to get the best out of your WiFi? Working from home can be frustrating when you experience problems, or you have what are known as WiFi ‘dead zones’ – areas of your house where the signal does not reach. Consider having a safety net for when this happens, either a mobile backup dongle or tethering from your phone's 4G or 5G network.

There are simple changes you can make to help improve your speed. Some are as simple as considering getting a WiFi Booster or upgrading your broadband package. Read about how to improve your speed

*2.2 Gbps speed is achieved by a wired connection