Your work from home setup: stay online through brownouts

The work from home setup you need in the Philippines: a computer that runs video calls, tested internet, a backup line, brownout power and a headset.

Your client never sees your desk. What they do see is your video freezing when the power or the internet cuts out. Check your setup in this order: computer, internet, backup internet, power and sound.

Most people skip the computer, so check it first. Zoom's minimum is a dual-core 2GHz processor and 4 GB of RAM, and it recommends a quad-core 2.5GHz processor with 16 GB. Zoom also says screen sharing drops to around 5 frames a second on dual-core and single-core laptops, which looks choppy to the person watching. If your laptop runs Windows 10, check it can move to Windows 11, because Microsoft stopped security updates for Windows 10 on 14 October 2025. Windows 11 needs at least 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of storage.

Test your internet the way clients will see it

A video call needs less speed than most plans advertise. Zoom recommends 1.2 Mbps up and down for a one-on-one call in 720p HD, and 3.8 Mbps up with 3.0 Mbps down for 1080p. Google Meet uses up to 1.7 Mbps each way per person for 720p video.

What breaks calls is a line that drops or slows at the wrong hour, so test like this:

  1. Run a speed test at the hours you'll actually work, not late at night when the line is quiet.
  2. Look at the upload number. Upload carries everything you send: your voice, your video and your shared screen.
  3. Do a real call with a friend. Share your screen with a spreadsheet open and ask how you sound.

If your router is close to your desk, plug your laptop in with a cable. It's one less thing to drop.

Backup internet for when your line drops

Your backup should come from a different company than your main line. If your fiber and your pocket wifi share a provider, one outage can take out both.

Test the backup once a month. A pocket wifi that sat in a drawer for half a year is not a plan. Clients often ask about this in interviews, so have a one-line answer ready. Our job interview tips for remote jobs (/blog/job-interview-tips-for-remote-jobs) cover what to say when a call drops.

Keep working through a brownout: UPS or power station

Some brownouts are planned, and the schedule is public. Meralco lists its scheduled maintenance on its website by date, time and barangay. If you're with another utility, find its page. Check it every week and plan your calls around it.

For brownouts that come without warning, keep your modem and router on a battery. There are two kinds:

To size one, add up the watts printed on each adapter you'll plug in. Before you rely on it, run your modem and router on it for one afternoon and write down how long it lasts.

Make your calls sound clear

Sound matters more than video. A headset with a microphone cuts the echo and the background noise that laptop mics pick up.

DayShift roles are with clients in Singapore and elsewhere in Asia, on Manila daytime hours. New to remote work? Read what Singapore clients expect from a remote worker (/blog/working-with-singapore-clients). Then browse the open day shift roles at /jobs, each with its pay, and apply to one.

Sources

Questions

What internet speed do I need to work from home?

For video calls, a few Mbps is enough. Zoom recommends 1.2 Mbps up and down for a one-on-one 720p call. What matters more is a line that stays steady at your working hours, so test it then, and check the upload speed.

How long will a UPS keep my internet on during a brownout?

That depends on how many watts you plug in, so connect only your modem and router. For outages that last for hours, a portable power station is the better fit, because it stores far more power than a UPS.

Do I need a backup internet connection?

If your job has live calls, yes. Get it from a different provider than your main line, so one outage doesn't cut both, and test it once a month.

Is a laptop with 4 GB of RAM enough for remote work?

It meets Zoom's minimum, but Zoom recommends 16 GB. With a call, a CRM and a spreadsheet open at once, more memory keeps things smooth.