In a matter of
weeks, much of the world has shifted to working or attending school from home in
to slow the spread of coronavirus.
With
so many remote-working tools now available, the world was better prepared for
the transition than it would have been in decades past. But that doesn't mean
it's been a perfect process. Wi-Fi connections strained by families trying to
share the home office, video calls that freeze and pixelate and slow downloads
of large files are all common WFH complaints.
Though
they are still a few years away from widespread deployment and adoption,
next-generation connectivity technologies, 5G and Wi-Fi 6, offer hope for a better
remote working experience.
The
most widely discussed benefit of these new technologies is significantly higher speeds. That will mean
waiting a few seconds — rather than, sometimes, minutes — for that massive
spreadsheet or HD image file your boss just sent over to download and open.
Faster speeds will also improve the quality of online video staff meetings.
There
are other perks, too. The new technologies
will provide much lower latency, which is the time it takes for a device to
communicate with a server and get a response. For instance, the time between
when you press send on an email and when your coworker's computer registers the new
message will be virtually zero.
These
new benefits will have implications not just for working remotely, but also for
other activities,
"The
concept of both high speed to have real, face-to-face conversations without any
buffer, and instant information with low latency is important for things like
cardiac patients, who need to translate real-time health updates to their
doctor and receive guidance," Max Silber, vice president of mobility at
network services firm MetTel, said.
The
5G technology standards are written in a way that would allow new devices to
connect to both Wi-Fi networks and cell networks simultaneously by default.
Currently, phones are designed to require users to shift between the cell
network and a Wi-Fi network for internet access, depending on where they are
and where the connection is best. But in the future, phones could be designed
to rely on Wi-Fi where available but supplement with bandwidth from the cell
network if the Wi-Fi connection is lacking, without requiring user
intervention, Médard said.
"It
should be that it's seamless between your home office and your other service
through your telephone provider, so you're not having to switch back and
forth," Médard said. "It should provide the best level (of coverage)
possible, without you needing to get involved."
And
working from home is one thing, while working from home along with everyone
else in your household brings an additional set of challenges.
"We're
all striving to maintain that face to face relationship," Sibler said.
"If your kids are on Fortnite at the same time that you're trying to do a
Zoom call for work, someone's experience is going to suffer."
5G
and Wi-Fi 6 will change that. The new technologies will be better able to
handle more devices at once without slowing down the connection — something
that will come in handy if entire families ever find themselves all working,
going to school and trying to stay entertained from home again.
While
these technologies are not widely in place to help people cope with current
stay-at-home orders, many experts believe that the lesson in managing remote
workforces during coronavirus will push companies to allow more remote working
even after the crisis is over.
"Most
organizations always have the technology to enable remote work, but they didn't
culturally really wrap their heads around it until they had to," Silber
said. 5G and Wi-Fi 6 will be additional tools that make the process easier.
-------Source from CNN Business By Clare Duffy
