Vox is giving away a plug-and-play UPS to one lucky reader

In the beginning of 2020, most South Africans had no idea how reliant they would become on their home connectivity. Covid-19 forced our worlds to shrink to the four walls of our homes — and the only way to safely stay connected, has been through technology.

While we have ventured outside our homes once again, many of us remain connected to the economy and sources of education through fine glass cabling (fibre), which has revolutionised our connected homes.

Five work-from-home life hacks

Many companies have seen the economic benefits of employees working from home. Gone are the days of clock cards, huge open-plan office spaces and water cooler chats. At almost every “family meeting” or Covid-19 national address, President Cyril Ramaphosa continues to encourage employees who can work from home to do so.

Here are five tips to help you get the best out of your workspace at home:

• Find a quiet space with a desk or table where you won’t be distracted. The room should preferably have a door you can close during video conferencing. Make sure that everything you need to do your work — from stationery to your Vox Fibre connectivity — is accessible in the room.
  
  
• Should there be too much background noise from the family or grass cutting service, plug in your earphones and listen to calming music. Mute yourself during video conferencing and unmute when you give input to your colleagues.
  
  
• Make sure you have the right fibre package. This all depends on how many users are in the home and their data consumption. For a family of four where mom and dad are working from home and attending video conferences, and children are streaming music and movies or attending online classes, a 50/50MB/s uncapped package should suffice. For one or two people, with two devices each, 10/10MB/s is enough. Connectivity throughout different-sized houses can vary, and  you need a good Wi-Fi network to get the most out of your internet speed. Vox offers a free survey of your house to determine the right package.

• Don’t get distracted by domestic chores or other family members’ needs. This will be a balancing act, but try to take your tea and lunch breaks with your family — spend quality time outside in your garden or in the family room before getting back — energised — to your home office desk. If you are helping a younger child with schoolwork, set times throughout the day where you can go over their work with them, and stick to these times for interruption-free work time.

• During load-shedding, you can use your mobile cellular network to remain connected. However, this will be expensive in terms of data costs and will only last as long as your laptop battery and cellphone are both charged. A better option would be to invest in an uninterrupted power supply (UPS) or inverter. Vox offers a plug-and-play UPS for the Wi-Fi router and ONT box with up to three hours uptime from R59 a month.

For more information on any of the Vox products and services, call 087-805-0016.