Maybe I’m misunderstanding your reply but it sounds pretty judgmental. What occurred in my situation could happen to anyone else on a sit. Yes, I made it clear WiFi was needed. Yes, I received a Welcome Guide, including WiFi. The HO included the wrong information about the WiFi and ended up not knowing their password. Not sure how that lands on me for lack of vetting or not valuing my employment.
No judgment at all. I’m saying that THS won’t care and yes, even hosts might not care (and some might be jerks), so as telecommuters we need to vet and have backup plans. We can’t count on others to protect our livelihood. And personally, I will always prioritize my work over sitting and think most people would. Most need the income. And in my case, I can afford to stop working, but as long as I’ve accepted professional responsibilities, I’m not going to prioritize sitting over them, because colleagues are counting on me.
I’ve got a screenshot of my speeds in my photos. That’s no guarantee that it’ll be exactly that for the sitters on the days they’re here, I guess?
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@Val
Speeds shouldn’t change drastically.
We worked from home for 3 years on a 35Mb/s connection and i would estimate we only used a fraction of that speed, probably 7-10Mb/s, increasing slightly on video calls.
Super fast speeds are only necessary when uploading and downloading huge files.
Your speeds are fantastic by the way 
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Are those speeds you tested on WiFi, as that is more susceptible to interference.
If you query it with your provider, they will probably ask you to test on a wired connection.
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Thanks, good point. Yes, just tested on phone using wifi.
Yes, that’s why for me usually video chatting before accepting a sit works fine.
If you were say someone who developed software for instance, like my husband, you’d need to upload and download huge files at various points. In such cases, then you’d naturally need to better understand available speeds. (Using him as an example, but he never sits.)
For most telecommuters, that’s not a requirement or need. Like I do exec jobs, which boil down to many video mtgs, communicating via various platforms and reviewing work docs or such. As long as I can Zoom, Google Meet or such, that’s good enough. Like I just did a two-day executive offsite entirely remotely, because I’ve been sick and didn’t want to risk getting others sick. That was essentially all-day video mtg for two days, including looking at decks and such.
Telecommuters should all recognize that backup plans for internet access are on them, because no one else will care about your livelihood the way you would. And even if they care, they might not be able to help. Like I did a London sit where speeds were fine, but there was road construction by the time the sit rolled around and it affected internet service. So boohoo, if I hadn’t routinely made backup plans, I would’ve been in a fix. Who was I going to blame or run to then? But because I’d routinely made backup plans as part of sitting, I got a hotspot and just carried on.
Let’s say a host is a lying weasel and misled you about internet access, you’d have little immediate recourse. You’d need to secure alternative internet access in a hurry, because most employers wouldn’t be understanding about your sitting and not having online access — if you telecommute and decide to sit, that’s on you.
Even if you quit the sit, presumably you’d still have to give notice for the pets’ sake. And even if you reviewed the host appropriately to reflect that they’re lying weasels, that won’t help you with your immediate need for internet. Plus, of course, THS can’t enforce internet speeds, access or such. That’s why, recognizing that, I always figure that telecommuters routinely need to have their own backup plans, in case of worst-case scenarios.
My husband and I are starting to realise that a HO’s home wifi may be pretty poor because everyone now has unlimited data on their phones therefore having decent home wifi just isn’t necessary (for them). I was wondering how the 2 teenage children at my current sit cope with the wifi (the living room is the only room in the house where it works) until I figured out the data-on-phone thing. We are going to drag ourselves kicking and screaming into the 21st century and get an unlimited data plan for the duration of this sit - it’s more productive (for us) than being unhappy with the non-existant wifi…
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@Myhnabird In the U.S., I don’t see the unlimited phone data as a good option and poor WiFi isn’t one I’ve encountered on THS. However, I do stay in urban areas; I have friends who live remote on ranches in Texas who have terrible WiFi.
Almost all people I encounter (on THS and personal life) have “cut the (cable) cord”. So, they have solid WiFi to stream and for their WFH/work from home.
@lou28 I guess it’s starting to dawn on me that a home Internet connection may go the way of home telephone service. Here (Europe) everyone uses mobile phones and I don’t think I’ve seen a landline phone even once in the 7 years we’ve been here.
I could be wrong of course but with the way technology is advancing…
In the UK, phone landline use is to be phased out by 2027, its actually starting now
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Seems to me that THS could aid both Pet Parents and House Sitters in regards internet speed expectations. Simple data in listing may create transparency and set expectations.
Current: housesit listings can include ‘high speed internet’ option
Issues: ‘High speed’ is subjective definition. Typical internet speed vary materially by country. Use case (email vs conference calls) places materially different demands on internet speed.
Solution: housesit listings include some form of simple scale responses. for example ‘internet upload speed below 10Mbps’, ‘internet upload speed 10-50Mbps’, ‘internet upload speed above 50Mbps’
Blockquote I have them send a screenshot from speedtest.net
@Jamie-and-Brady This is a good idea.
There’s a difference between WiFi and internet, which in my experience, a lot of people aren’t aware of.