Home IT support for faster,
safer and more reliable internet
Our home service
We install the fastest available and most secure WiFi for anyone working from home, and provide ongoing IT support as required.
For over 20 years, Douglas has been installing and supporting IT networks in homes and small businesses in London, Oxford and the South East.
Why do you need home IT support?
With more people working from home, a reliable, fast internet connection is vital for a professional home working experience (video conferencing, VPN connectivity, high quality audio calls), especially if other householders are drawing on bandwidth to stream videos or online games.
What security do you need at home?
A fast, secure router and robust firewall settings are essential. Basic routers as routinely supplied by ISPs are inadequate. Factory settings on routers severely limit performance and firewalls should be calibrated to allow normal home traffic without slowing the network.
Our services
Separate home networks
Most homes benefit from three separate WiFi networks:
- Parent WiFi – fast unlimited access, all laptops/desktops/printers networked for file sharing
- Kids’ WiFi – safe browser settings, extreme sites and links blocked
- Guests WiFi – Blocked access to home devices and laptops, and limited speeds to reduce demand on bandwidth
Meshed and Roaming WiFi for successful linking
The WiFi units in your house should be set up for successful ‘roaming’. By linking together all the WiFi units in the whole home, when you move from room to room when making a WiFi call or watching a film on a tablet, the data stream passes seamlessly from one unit to another preventing calls being dropped or films stalling or buffering.
‘Mesh’ connections are set up to go from a house, say, to a barn or garage where no physical cable connection is possible, or is beyond the limits of the house WiFi. These transmit and receive devices are very small and offer reliable near 1Gbps speeds over remarkably long distances.
Consider also installing a WiFi unit in your garage. This enables your car’s software and navigation systems to be updated at home, which is often difficult when driving and using a phone hotspot with poor or intermittent coverage.
Setting up home routers for professional use
Fast, secure WiFi is standard in workplaces but cheap home routers supplied by ISPs are usually unsuitable for working from home.
Security risks
WiFi passwords provided by the suppliers with the standard routers are in similar formats and vulnerable to hacking, as are admin passwords. The range and speed of the WiFi is often limited too and only one WiFi network is offered from these routers.
Voice calls prioritised
If a householder starts watching a film while another makes a phone call, for example, a correctly configured WiFi unit can detect voice calls and prioritise them over streaming video. This won’t affect the video but it stops it commanding too much bandwidth and forcing the voice call to drop or stutter.
Providing you with reliable internet at home
We will visit your address to assess your current WiFi set up and discuss options. After, we will send you a quote recommending the best course of action to optimize your home WiFi.
Once the extent of the works has been agreed we will arrive with new routers and other required equipment, then we will install it and test thoroughly.
Assistance with new computer equipment
We can advise and assist with buying and setting up new home computer equipment.
IT problem resolution
Using remote access software, we can help resolve your IT issues quickly and efficiently.
