Internet Bonding: What Is It and Why Is It Important for Remote Professionals?

If you work remotely or work in a rural area, you’ve probably run into an obstacle: quality internet access. One SIM might work in one place, another connection might work in another, or both might work but be weak. Either way, your productivity invariably suffers when you have unreliable internet especially while working remotely or from home. Typically, the best solution to remedy this problem is to employ a technique known as internet bonding. Here’s what you need to know about this method to increase your internet speed!

Internet Bonding: What Is It?

Internet bonding is a technique whereby you can use multiple connections as if it was a single one.

For example, let’s say you have three wireless cell modems. You have one from Jio, another from Airtel, and finally, one from BSNL Mobile. In a rural area, each might be running on the old Edge or 2G connection. Or, perhaps one has 3G or LTE, but the rest don’t work.

An internet bonding router takes each of these connections and routes your traffic as appropriate. If everything is a 2G connection and you’re browsing a webpage, it might route the HTML request through one provider, an image request through another, and so on. By having parallel connections, you’ll increase your internet speed while working from home. Similarly, if one provider has an LTE connection, the router is smart enough to recognize to route all traffic through it.

Most importantly, though, is that this is all seamless to the user. You won’t necessarily need to know which connection it is using. Instead, you’ll get the best internet speeds possible given where you are in India.

Why Is Internet Bonding Important for Professionals Working From Home?

Unfortunately, there are still many places in this country that do not have ultra-reliable wireless connectivity. And that’s not even just for people working outside of cities! Sometimes, depending on where you are, even urban internet can be notoriously unreliable.

Suppose your business requires stable, reliable internet to function (e.g., you deal with video, audio, content creation, or you are a software development company). In that case, the potential internet struggles especially while working from home can significantly damage your company’s ability to make progress and remain at peak efficiency. Instead of building excellent new software, videos, or music, you’ll be sitting around waiting for your connection to become reliable again.

This issue is particularly problematic for people who are working remotely. It’s not uncommon to meet with a client and have internet troubles at that particular time. Or, perhaps you’re working on a rural area project and need to upload some images so your boss can see the progress. If your internet is having issues then, it could be an issue!

It’s worth noting that having a “backup” internet option is still beneficial even for people that typically experience good connections. For example, if you’re streaming on YouTube, having a backup internet connection will ensure that you can continue the stream even if the primary one goes down. Having that live video streaming device or router that can keep your feed up is vital!

In short, if you rely on the internet to do business, you need to consider what happens if that connection is bad, goes down, or has other issues!

How To Use Internet Bonding

Fortunately, internet bonding is very simple to use! There are specialized internet bonding routers that will let you plug in all your 3G/4G modems and will automatically detect and route your internet packets depending on which ones have the best signal at the time.

Zifilink, one of the leading internet bonding routers, accepts up to eight different internet dongles and picks the best one for your internet connection. All you need to do is plug your dongles in, and you’re ready to use them! There’s no configuration or setup required.

Furthermore, Zifilink also supports a WiFi hotspot and LAN connection, so if you do have any wired laptops or desktops that need that LAN port, this product will ensure you can stay connected both with a wireless and wired connection!

What Are Other Ways There To Improve Internet Reliability?

Internet bonding is arguably the most reliable way to increase internet speed. However, there are a few other methods that you can try too.

The first method is to use a signal booster. With a signal booster, you can amplify your current 3G/4G connection and create a better link between the cell tower and the dongle. Given that these boosters are typically more prominent and require AC power, this method is only practical for fixed locations (i.e., offices) with poor cell service.

The second method is to adjust the dongle location and use a repeater or wired connection to “beam” the signal to your main router or computer. For example, let’s say you have a wireless dongle that works poorly inside but works well outside. You could set it up outdoors and then use a wired LAN connection from your outside router to your inside office. It’s clunky and cumbersome (not to mention you may not even be able to do that due to landlord/building restrictions), but it can sometimes work if the only issue is that you are inside.

Finally, you can have multiple dongles and keep cycling through them until you find the most reliable one. The problem is that which one is the most reliable can vary depending on where you are. Plus, each dongle can sometimes be weak, but when you split the requests up between multiple connections, they combine to give you a decent speed. An internet bonding router makes all that feasible.

If You Have Unreliable Internet, Consider Using Internet Bonding To Fix It!

Ultimately, the best way to have a reliable internet connection while working from home or anywhere else is to use internet bonding. Whether you have a live video streaming device that needs a solid connection or meet virtually with clients and its imperative that your internet work, having quality internet is vital for your company’s success.

At Zifilink, our motto is “never go offline.” We’re proud to provide individuals and companies with the best portable internet bonding solution. If you want reliable internet, consider picking up one of our routers today!