You Moved to the Country. Your Job Came With You.
Remote work has brought a wave of new residents to northern New Hampshire and Vermont's Northeast Kingdom. People who want space, quiet, mountains out the window, and a lower cost of living, but who still need to be on Zoom at 9 AM Monday.
The problem is that rural New England's internet infrastructure wasn't built for this. Many homes in Coos County, Grafton County, and Essex County VT are served by DSL connections that struggle to maintain a stable video call, let alone handle a household where two adults are working remotely while kids are streaming or doing homework.
If you're making the move, or already here and fighting with your connection, here's what you actually need and what's available.
What Remote Work Requires (For Real)
Most "how much bandwidth do I need?" guides online are optimistic. They assume you're the only person on the network and that your connection is running at advertised speed. Here's what various work activities actually demand in practice:
Video Conferencing
| Platform | Minimum | Comfortable | HD Quality |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zoom | 3/3 Mbps | 8/5 Mbps | 15/10 Mbps |
| Teams | 2/2 Mbps | 8/5 Mbps | 15/10 Mbps |
| Google Meet | 3/3 Mbps | 8/5 Mbps | 15/10 Mbps |
These numbers are per person, per call. If two people in your household are on concurrent video calls, double it. Add screen sharing and those numbers go up again.
Other Work Activities
- VPN to corporate network: 5–10 Mbps minimum, more for responsive feel
- Cloud file sync (Dropbox, OneDrive, Google Drive): Upload speed matters most. 5+ Mbps to avoid clogging the pipe
- Slack/Teams chat with file sharing: 2–5 Mbps
- Cloud applications (Salesforce, Jira, etc.): 5+ Mbps for snappy performance
- Large file uploads (design files, video, datasets): This is where DSL falls apart. Uploading a 500 MB file at 1 Mbps takes over an hour
The Upload Speed Problem
This is the real issue with DSL for remote work. Upload speed. Most DSL connections in northern NH deliver 1–5 Mbps upload. A single Zoom call in HD uses 3–5 Mbps upload. That means one video call consumes your entire upload pipe, and everything else (cloud sync, file uploads, other devices) grinds to a halt or causes your video to freeze.
Your boss doesn't see "rural NH DSL limitations." They see your face freezing on screen.
What's Available in Rural NH & VT
DSL: Not Built for This
The incumbent DSL provider in northern NH/VT typically delivers 5–25 Mbps download and 1–5 Mbps upload. It can technically support a single video call if nothing else is happening on the network. It cannot reliably support:
- Two concurrent video calls
- A video call plus a kid streaming Netflix
- Large file uploads while doing anything else
- Modern cloud-heavy workflows
Starlink: Better But Inconsistent
Starlink delivers better speed (25–100 Mbps download) but introduces a different problem: latency variability. Satellite connections inherently have higher latency (25–60 ms baseline), and during peak hours or weather events, latency can spike to 100 ms+. On a video call, this manifests as that frustrating delay where you and your colleague talk over each other. It works, but it doesn't feel natural.
At $120/mo, it's also the most expensive option.
Netafy Broadband Fixed Wireless: The Best Fit for WFH
Netafy Broadband's GigTier fixed wireless delivers 50–400 Mbps download and up to 100 Mbps upload with 10–25 ms latency. That's cable-internet performance from a ground-based tower network. Two adults on concurrent Zoom calls, kids streaming, Ring camera uploading, cloud sync running in the background. It handles all of it.
The plan that makes sense for remote work: Premium at $69/mo. 75 Mbps minimum with bursts to 200 Mbps. That gives you plenty of headroom for video calls, cloud apps, and a busy household. If your WFH needs are particularly heavy (video production, large dataset uploads), the Premier ($89/mo) or Platinum ($109/mo) plans add more bandwidth.
Setting Up Your Home Office in an Old Farmhouse
Rural NH and VT homes present some unique networking challenges. Many are older construction: farmhouses, cape cods, and converted camps with thick plaster walls, multiple floors, and layouts that weren't designed with WiFi in mind.
Router Placement
Your ISP-provided router (or one you buy) should be placed centrally in the house, elevated if possible. Don't put it in the basement or a back closet. In a two-story farmhouse, the second-floor landing or upstairs hallway is often the best spot for whole-house coverage.
Mesh WiFi
If your home is large or has thick walls, a mesh WiFi system (like Eero, Google Nest WiFi, or TP-Link Deco) is worth the investment. These systems use multiple access points to blanket your home in coverage. A 2-pack typically covers 2,000–3,000 sq ft. Place one near your router and one near your home office.
Hardwire When Possible
For the most reliable video call experience, run an ethernet cable from your router to your office computer. WiFi is convenient, but a wired connection eliminates the latency and signal variability that WiFi introduces. If running ethernet through your house isn't practical, look into MoCA adapters, which use your home's coaxial cable to create an ethernet-like connection between rooms.
Separate Your Work Traffic
If your employer provides a VPN, use it, but keep it split-tunnel if possible. A full-tunnel VPN routes all your traffic through your company's network, which can slow down streaming and other household use. Most modern VPN clients support split tunneling so only work traffic goes through the VPN.
Speed Recommendations by Role
| Work Type | Recommended Plan | Min Speed | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Office/admin (email, docs, calls) | Premium ($69/mo) | 75 Mbps | Handles Zoom + cloud apps comfortably |
| Developer/engineer | Premier ($89/mo) | 100 Mbps | Git pushes, container builds, screen sharing |
| Designer/creative | Premier ($89/mo) | 100 Mbps | Large file uploads, cloud collaboration |
| Video production | Platinum ($109/mo) | 150 Mbps | Uploading raw footage, cloud rendering |
| 2-person WFH household | Premier ($89/mo) | 100 Mbps | Two concurrent video calls + headroom |
Making the Transition
If you're planning a move to rural NH or VT and need reliable internet for work, check coverage before you close on the house. Seriously. The difference between a home in Netafy Broadband's coverage area and one just outside it can be the difference between a smooth remote work setup and daily frustration.
Step 1: Enter your address (or the address you're considering) at netafy.com/contact.
Step 2: If you're in coverage, coordinate installation around your move. Most installs are completed in one visit.
Step 3: Set up your home office network: router, mesh WiFi if needed, ethernet to your desk if possible.
You moved to northern New England because it's a better place to live. Your internet connection shouldn't make you regret it.
View all residential plans at netafy.com/residential-internet-pricing.
