EE Work Mode and Game Mode: How do they work?

Dan Howdle • March 6th, 2024

Broadband providers have to work pretty hard to differentiate their offering from those of their competitors. After all, with all but one major provider offering a service on the same network, that can be a hard thing to achieve. Differences tend to come in the form of price, equipment (router), contract length, new-customer freebies (cashback and so on), and on extra features like whole home wifi, high-spec parental controls and security. EE Broadband has a couple of new ideas, both related to the tech it offers: Work Mode and Game Mode. But what are they exactly? And how do they work?

EE Broadband WiFi Enhancer

Both EE Game Mode, and EE Work Mode are part of a wider package of router features you'll get with all EE Broadband deals. These features as a whole are called 'EE WiFi Enhancer'. Here is a complete rundown of the features WiFi Enhancer provides:

• EE Game Mode: When active, Game Mode will actively prioritise both bandwidth (speed) and broadband quality (QoS) to devices being used to play videogames, ensuring the player or players is never hitting limits of otherwise experiencing a sketchy service
• EE Work Mode: Is almost like an opposite to Game Mode in that is de-prioritises bandwidth being used to entertain people (streaming, gaming), and prioritises devices and activities that are work-related
• EE Geo-filter: This actively works to ensure your router is connected to the best remote server when gaming. Note that this only works for certain games, which we'll talk more about a bit further down this page
• EE Ping Optimiser: This actively works to ensure your router is connected to the best remote server when gaming. Note that this only works for certain games, which we'll talk more about a bit further down this page

Note that, somewhat counter-intuitively, Work Mode and Game Mode can both be active at the same time, thus prioritising both kinds of traffic. This actually shouldn't present too many problems if you're on a fast, Full Fibre connection. However, if you're fighting for bandwidth between gamers and workers and you don't have enough to go around, activating both won't achieve much.

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EE Game Mode

EE Game Mode does quite a few different things and can be activated on your router via the EE app. Activating it won't present you with a set of further tasks such as telling it which devices are for gaming – it works by identifying the games you're playing – it knows what's being played and how exactly to prioritise that traffic.

The way in which EE Game Mode knows that you're playing and indeed what you're playing is via a third party that supplies some of the operating system of your EE Router: a company called NETDUMA (all capitalised for some reason). NETDUMA makes both the operating system part, and it makes its own routers aimed specifically at gamers who play online.

NETDUMA is able to identify what you're playing, on what device, and where you're located, and from that understand how to adjust the service you receive between yourself and your game servers. It claims a latency reduction (something very important to competitive online games and gamers) of up to 85%. This is not a nothing-burger. It really works, and it really makes a difference.

EE Work Mode

Unlike Game Mode, where EE is bringing in a suite of interesting and unique software technologies to really improve the gaming experience, Work Mode is a little more straightforward. It basically just provides priority for work-related apps such as Zoom, Teams and so on. It won't, unfortunately, allow you to designate a work computer and tell it to prioritise it above all else, though – which to our mind is missing a trick.

What it does achieve is allow you to do your videoconferencing with peace of mind that the kids in the next room downloading a barn-full of Roblox content aren't going to interrupt your meetings. It also won't prevent other people in the house from using the broadband/wifi to entertain themselves, only that if it ever comes to a battle over who gets that last bit of bandwidth, it'll be the Zoom or Teams call and not the latest Call Of Duty downloading in the background.

The EE Broadband App

Both these modes and other features such as parental controls/locks and so on can be controlled easily via the EE App. We much prefer this approach to, for example, that of Virgin Media, where controlling your router means remembering your router's IP address and your admin login, and then once inside being presented with a bewildering set of options labelled with a bewildering set of abbreviated tech gobbledegook. The EE App is simple and easy to use, and it's here you will be able to activate Work Mode, Game Mode, or if you have a fats connection, both.

How to set up Work Mode or Game Mode

Just follow these simple steps:

• 1. Open the EE app
• 2. Tap WiFi Controls
• 3. Tap WiFi Enhancer
• 4. Choose Work or Game Mode
• 5. Toggle Work Mode, Game Mode or both to on

How to set up Game Mode Ping Optimiser

Do the following:

• 1. Open the EE app
• 2. Tap WiFi Controls
• 3. Tap WiFi Enhancer
• 4. Select Optimise your ping and follow the steps