3 Reasons Why Your Business Needs 5G-Connected Laptops

In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic panic forced many businesses to adopt remote work as a necessity, but now it’s preferred by many employees—and quite a lot of employers leaned into the trend. According to a survey by PwC, 83% of employers say the shift to remote work has been successful for their company with 55% of employees saying they would prefer to work remotely at least three days a week.

My friends, it is obvious that remote work is here to stay but it also comes with its own challenges. When I talk to CIOs, CISOs, and other business IT leaders, the top concerns I most often hear from them when it comes to successfully implementing a remote work strategy are:

• Procuring reliable (and secure) internet access for their employees
• Empowering employees to effectively collaborate with colleagues
• Deploying devices that enable reliable, secure, and effective collaboration

Executives with these concerns should consider adopting 5G-connected laptops, which offer several benefits over traditional WiFi-only devices.

Is 5G wireless technology mainstream?

Yes, there’s no question that 5G is mainstream throughout North America, Asia, and most of Europe. As most business executives already know, 5G is the latest generation of wireless technology that launched back in 2019. Since then, over 500 telecom operators in 150+ countries have rolled out some form of 5G wireless access to customers. While many business owners were hesitant to adopt 5G just a couple of years ago, today it is a proven technology that delivers faster, more reliable, and more secure connectivity than the previous generation of 4G and LTE wireless.

For those business executives with concerns about implementing successful remote work strategies, 5G is foundational for empowering your employees to work from anywhere, anytime, and on any device, as well as take advantage of the latest innovations in cloud-based AI, which can help you improve your productivity, efficiency, and quality. Here are three reasons why 5G laptops can help you achieve greater business outcomes.

1) 5G laptops can connect to the internet virtually anywhere

One of the biggest challenges of remote work, especially when you’re not in your home office, is finding a reliable internet connection. With WiFi, you are limited by the availability and quality of public hotspots, which can be slow, unreliable, and quite often unsafe. According to a report by PurpleSec, public WiFi is a common attack vector for cyber criminals, who can use it to intercept your data, steal your passwords, or infect your devices with malware. In fact, the report estimates that 24% of public WiFi users have experienced a cyberattack, and that public WiFi attacks cost businesses $5.6 billion annually.

With 5G laptops, you can access the internet from virtually anywhere your employees choose to work, whether it’s at home, in a coffee shop, or on the road. As an example, the T-Mobile network that Blue Mantis partnered with to provide 5G service covers 90% of Americans and has the highest availability of any 5G network. We did this to ensure IT leaders can provide employees with devices that enable more flexibility and mobility, as well as less downtime and frustration.

Unlike WiFi, 5G connectivity is more secure, as it uses encryption and authentication protocols to prevent unauthorized access to your data. Of course, Blue Mantis also recommends IT leaders also use VPNs and firewalls to further enhance security, as well as investing in ways to monitor and manage employee devices remotely.

2) 5G connectivity is faster and more secure than WiFi

Not only does 5G connectivity allow access to the internet from virtually anywhere, but it also provides faster and more consistent speeds than WiFi only. With a 5G device, your employees can enjoy faster downloads and uploads to business-critical cloud services such as Dropbox, Microsoft SharePoint, the Adobe Creative Cloud, and others as well as lower latency and less buffering during Zoom or Webex sessions. This means employees can work more efficiently and effectively, without wasting time or compromising quality. An impressive example I’ve seen firsthand is how 5G can transform healthcare organizations: a large hospital connected the tablets used by their doctors, nurses, and other staff members via 5G to allow them to securely update patient medical records instantly. It worked much better than WiFi with no signal dropouts no matter where they were located on the hospital’s sprawling campus.

Moreover, 5G connectivity offers enhanced security features that can protect your business from cybersecurity threats, such as tracking, spoofing, or hacking. 5G has built-in anti-tracking and spoofing features that prevent manipulation of individual device connections, as well as new IP and cloud security standards that help strengthen networks’ security posture. 5G also allows for “network slicing,” or segmenting multiple virtual networks so that they can be managed and customized independently if desired. For example, corporate IT managers can configure different slices of their 5G network so that each slice has tailored protections for specific device types. Blue Mantis has deployed 5G for several customers (including some custom private 5G networks) and it’s easy to see how 5G technologies can help organizations optimize network performance, security, and flexibility.

3) 5G laptops enable modern workspace productivity scenarios

Finally, 5G laptops can help you leverage the power of cloud-based AI, which requires a fast network with large amounts of bandwidth. With 5G, you can use our partner Microsoft’s Copilot AI tools, which can help most employees collaborate more effectively in Microsoft 365 apps. The most common real-world example is how a 5G laptop can enhance your video conferencing experience, which is essential for remote work and collaboration. With 5G, you have the bandwidth in Microsoft Teams to conduct jitter-free video conferences, flawless audio calls, as well as share files, chat, and co-edit documents in real time. The fact that a 5G laptop provides that large amount secure bandwidth anywhere and anytime helps every employee with Teams to communicate more clearly, build rapport with colleagues, and foster a great sense of teamwork. Copilot AI is quickly turning into a must-have business tool that can help you save time, reduce errors, and improve overall quality of work.

Leverage the power of AI and 5G with Blue Mantis

At Blue Mantis, we can help you design and implement a solution that combines the latest Lenovo laptops, T-Mobile 5G connectivity, and Microsoft Copilot AI to boost your productivity and efficiency. We can assess your current setup, recommend the best devices and plans for your needs, and provide ongoing support and maintenance.

Contact us today and let us help you transform your business with 5G laptops.