The home office is no longer something reserved for senior members of a company. With the now widespread practice of working-from-home in place, many people are now looking to have a great home office environment where they can be as productive as possible.
Of course, most people will already have invested in the home office essentials – a laptop, desk and chair. But there are a number of other gadgets that can take the home working experience to a new level. We asked a London-based IT company – TechQuarters – about their recommendations for hardware. As a provider of small business IT support London-based companies have been working with for many years, TechQuarters were able to give us a great rundown of home office gear.
Anker Apex Thunderbolt 4 Docking Station
A docking station is a device that adds additional connection ports that your laptop can utilize; but the main benefit is that users can connect peripheral devices to the port – such as external monitors, printers, additional hard drives, keyboards, etc. This means that by simply docking the laptop to the device, the laptop will immediately be connected to any of those peripheral device – thus users don’t have to deal with connecting lots of cables to their laptop all the time.
The docking station that TechQuarters recommended was the Anker Apex Thunderbolt 4. This device has 12 different connection ports, and supports up to two 4K displays.
Opal C1 Webcam
People working from home need a high quality camera, because their main way of communicating with colleagues, clients, partners, etc. will be through video calls and meetings. Thus, a camera that enables you to deliver a crisp, HD display will make the experience for people communicating with you much better. The Insta360 Link webcam offers superb HD video streaming, and it has a built-in gimbal base that allows it to track the subject dynamically.
Shure MV7 Microphone
Just as video calling is essential for remote working, so is having high quality audio communications. This means that a remote worker should have a good quality microphone in their home office. There are lots of different microphones out there which can be used with a laptop or PC, but for remote workers, the best option is a USB microphone. This is because they are the easiest to setup and require little ongoing management. The Shure MV7 USB microphone is widely considered to be one of the best USB mics on the market. Many users that own one have cited its audio quality being almost as good as studio-grade recordings.
Netgear Orbi Pro WiFi 6
Remote working can have all kinds of challenges. When we asked TechQuarters about it, they cited WiFi connectivity as being one of the top challenges. Having provided IT support Croydon and London-based businesses relied on heavily when remote working was just beginning to become the mainstream demand, TechQuarters know a lot about the viable options for WiFi that is suitable for remote work. They said that, firstly, users should opt for mesh WiFi, which is much better at guaranteeing connections all around a property. According to them, the Netgear Orbi Pro WiFi 6 is currently the best mesh WiFi system on the market.
Sony WH-1000XM5 Headphones
Remote workers can not always be guaranteed a quiet work environment – particularly if workers have young children in the house. This is why having a good quality pair of headphones is essential – as video meetings and calls are a common occurrence in a remote work setting. According to TechQuarters, the best headphones for remote workers include active noise cancellation, providing a quiet, isolated soundstage for workers to have meetings, or listen to media that is relevant to their work. The Sony WH-1000XM5 naturally benefits from Sony’s world-class audio technology. They are comfortable, wireless (with a great battery life), and also happen to be great for travelling with.
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