You may think that having mobile data is only useful when you are out and about but, in the present working environment, additional mobile data in the home can have its advantages. It can help to bolster available broadband at home or act as a dedicated office internet connection. BCR Associates explain why additional data packages could benefit you and your business right now.
The recent and immediate shift to working from home has seen many of our clients increasing their data usage and adding more users and devices to their portfolio. Have you got enough data and enough data devices? Are you making the most of available services to keep business-as-usual in unusual circumstances?
Why mobile data over fixed lines?
Obviously, mobile broadband is more mobile than fixed broadband, and whilst this advantage is normally about being able to take a data connection with you when you are out and about, that is no longer the case. But mobile data in the home can have its own advantages in the current situation. For example:
- If the entire family is at home, a mobile broadband connection can help the user to find a quiet place, away from family spaces, in areas of the home where Wi-Fi coverage may not have been a priority before – the attic room or the makeshift office in the garage, or even the shed at the bottom of the garden. The Wi-Fi connection goes where you want, or need, to be.
- Mobile data connections, at 4G and 5G speeds, are now often quicker than home broadband. This is especially so if there are multiple users and devices connected to the home broadband and the Wi-Fi signal has to travel through multiple walls and floors to get to your device.
- A mobile broadband connection can give you more flexibility for temporary home working, with less hassle than cabling. Trailing metre upon metre of ethernet cables through the house to hardwire your device to a router is an alternative solution to poor Wi-Fi connectivity, but is certainly not as streamlined or flexible as a dedicated device that can go anywhere.
- Having a separate dedicated connection for work can give a more consistent and reliable connection, especially if other members of the household may be doing online gaming, streaming music or finally getting around to binge-watching that series on Netflix!
- Having work devices connected only to one dedicated mobile broadband connection means that this device can be switched off at night, making it easier to maintain that work-life balance and divide.
What to look out for?
- The vast majority of home broadband providers offer unlimited usage, whereas mobile data is normally limited to a data allowance, with extra costs incurred for exceeding that allowance.
- If you are working from home, using a mobile data connection (whether that is tethering from your phone, using a dedicated data SIM in a tablet or using a mobile Wi-Fi dongle), it is important that you have a sufficient data allowance to cope with your needs.
- If you are tethering from a phone, it is likely that the phone’s data allowance was set up to cover usage on that device only. Having extra devices access that data allowance may require you to reassess the package that the phone is on. Excess data charges on some networks can be in the region of £2 to £3 per MB after your allotted allowance, meaning an extra GB of data (roughly an hour of streaming Netflix) could cost you over £2,000! All networks should warn you when you are close to your allowance, and most business applications are likely to be less data-intensive than Netflix, but this gives an indication of how important account management and control can be.
- A separate dedicated mobile Wi-Fi device would allow for a separate data allowance, more control and less drain on your phone’s battery life!
How we can help
- We can provide data products and services, ensuring you have enough devices and the right data allowance to use with them
- We can proactively manage your account for overspend and increase allowances in the most cost-effective manner
- We can use shared data to pool allowances, giving more flexibility across multiple users with differing data needs
- We can provide all major UK networks for the best coverage in the areas you are working
- We can provide mobile broadband options with unlimited data allowances
- We can provide control over your usage and your spend
- We can help your business to continue operating effectively in exceptional circumstances
There is no need to leave data allowances as they are and think ‘if I go over, I go over – I just need to stay connected whatever the cost’. This thinking will inevitably lead to unnecessary and avoidable costs that we can help you to manage. If you would like us to help find the right solution for you, please get in touch
