I finally checked the Wi-Fi speed at my favorite coffee shop and the number shocked me

I was at Brewed Awakening on Main Street last Tuesday and decided to run a speed test on my phone. Turns out their free Wi-Fi is only 12 Mbps down, which is barely enough for a single Zoom call without glitching. How are any of us remote workers supposed to get anything done in these places if they don't invest in better internet? Has anyone else run into this problem at their regular spot?

3 comments

3 Comments

sethhernandez2d ago

Have you tried asking the barista about their internet plan? 12 Mbps is brutal for Zoom but some places get throttled during peak hours, not because their actual connection is that slow. Might be worth testing it at a different time of day before you write the place off completely.

the_eric2d ago

Read something the other day about how a lot of coffee shops share the same internet connection with a whole strip mall. It's not like they have a dedicated business line most of the time. That 12 Mbps might be split between the cafe, a laundromat, and a pizza place next door. So yeah, timing really matters with that setup. If you show up at 2pm on a Tuesday when everyone else is slow, you might get the full speed. The barista probably doesn't even know how bad it gets during the lunch rush since they're too busy making drinks.

finleym431d ago

Dude yes! I had this exact thing happen at my local spot. Mornings were fine but around noon the wifi would just tank and I couldn't even load a webpage. One day I asked the barista and she laughed, said the pizza place next store streams football games on their tablets during lunch. Found out later they're all on one shared Spectrum plan and the landlord won't upgrade it. So now I just go at 7am or wait until after 2pm and it's totally fine for video calls.