Don't Sacrifice Your Holiday Productivity to a Slow Network!

December 10, 2025

It’s not exactly a secret that the holiday season is—speaking generally—a pretty busy time for businesses. This makes any slowness in your network particularly frustrating to deal with, and potentially alienating to your audience. So what can be done?

For starters, the following five fixes:

5 Ways to Speed Up Your Business Network

Limit non-essential traffic. Not all network traffic is equally critical to your operations, so while your team members might want to get around to watching the first part of Stranger Things’ final season before part two drops on Christmas Day, you can’t afford your bandwidth being used up by such activities. Quality of Service (QoS) protocols can help ensure that official business is prioritized over off-topic use, helping keep your team on track.
Upgrade your network hardware. When did you last replace your routers and access points? If you’re still limited to Wi-Fi 6, you’re using technology approved in 2021. There are many benefits to modern hardware, speed being just one of them.
Clean your storage. While data retention is important, it is best practice to review your data periodically and remove or archive any files or applications you no longer need. This helps keep your network equipment running efficiently.
Review your cabling. Once you’ve audited your storage, take time to examine the cabling connecting the various components of your IT network. Damaged and outdated Ethernet cables can go unnoticed despite causing issues. It also helps to check whether the cables you are using have an appropriate category rating (shorted to CAT) for the task at hand. Some CAT ratings offer a large bandwidth but are effective only over short distances, or cannot bend to fit the available space.
Align your Internet speed with cloud use. You may rely on the cloud for a significant number of your business processes, from remote desktop use to Software-as-a-Service subscriptions. You need to know whether your available speed can support all this traffic. If it can’t, it is time for an upgrade.

We Can Assist You as You Make These Changes and Beyond!

It all starts with a comprehensive network audit from First Column IT. This analysis helps us diagnose issues in your network and develop the best approach to address them, delivering maximum value to your business.

Reach out to us at (571) 470-5594 to discuss a network audit and any other IT needs you have.

‍

New Variant of XLoader Malware Runs in the Background and Steals Your Photos, Texts, and Other Data

If you’re in the know about cybersecurity and, specifically, mobile malware, you might have heard the name XLoader in the past. The malware has gone through considerable versions and variations, allowing it to steal information from users in more than seven countries, but the most recent is incredibly scary.

February 26, 2024

Who Has Your Data and What Are They Doing With It?

Protecting personal data has become a critical concern as more and more people use Internet-connected accounts. While this tech has undoubtedly enriched our lives, it has also paved the way for unprecedented invasions of privacy, particularly by enormous technology companies that claim to be doing it for their own good. Today, we will explore how these giants compromise data privacy, raising questions about the balance between innovation and safeguarding our most sensitive information.

February 23, 2024

Tip of the Week: How to Create Better Passwords

Even though passwords are not the most reliable security measure out there these days, they are still important and the first line of defense against potential threats. Today, we want to discuss how you can make better passwords for all of your accounts.

Welcome to the First Column IT Tech Blog