Tech Advisor - UK (2020-07)

66 TECH ADVISOR • JULY 2020

WORKING FROM HOME TIPS

If you’re stuck using Wi-Fi – say, you have a

MacBookAirora tabletorsomeotherdevicethat

doesn’thaveanEthernetport–dowhatyoucan

tominimizeinterference.MakesureyourWi-Fi

router is away from other electronic devices like

cordlessphones,andtemporarilydisconnectany

otherdevicesfrom your Wi-Fi network – after all,

youdon’twantanothercomputeronyournetwork

todownloadagigabyteworthofsoftwareupdates

while yourunyourtests.

While you’re at it, double-check to make sure

your computerisn’tdownloadingsomethingin the

background.ChecktheTaskManageronWindows

(summonedbypressingCtrl+Alt+Delete)or

ActivityMonitor on macOS, and look for network

statistics(it’slabelled‘Network’onmacOS,

‘Networking’onWindows).

Close or quit all apps on your computer to keep

appsfromdownloadingsoftwareupdateswhileyou

testyourconnection.Yourbandwidthusagemaynot

droptozeroandstaythere,butyouwantit ascloseto

zeroasit’llget.Ifyouroperatingsystemisdownloading

updates,thereisn’tmuchyoucandoasidefromwait

andtestyourconnectionlater.

If you’rehavinganyproblemswithyourconnection,

nowisagoodideatoresetyourmodemandrouter.

Switchthemoffandunplugthemfora fewmoments,

thenplugthembackinandswitchthemon.

Testyourconnection

Severalsiteswillhelptestyourconnection.Honestly,

though,there’slittleneedtosetabookmark.Ifyou’re