What do you need to work from home? You may think all you need is a laptop but there is more to it than that. Most of your work will be done on a laptop but there are many things you can’t live without.
Equipment You Need to Work From Home
Let’s get right into this and list what equipment you need.
- Laptop or Desktop – You should lean toward a laptop as they are extremely flexible and are gaining greater speed and power every year.
- Software – Dependent on your line of work.
- Work Station – I’m listing this right near the top because you don’t want to be sitting working on a laptop all the time. A work station will provide you with a more comfortable keyboard and larger and multiple monitors.
- Docking Station – This is part of your Work Station.
- Monitors – I would recommend Duel 24″ monitors or one larger monitor than a 24″.
- Keyboard
- Mouse
- Brief Case or Backpack – For the days you want to be portable and work remotely, maybe the park on a nice day.
- Sit to Stand Desk – This is a must these days to stay healthy and reduce health problems.
- Mat to Stand On
- Comfortable Office Chair
- All In One Printer, Copier & Scanner
- Surge Protector with Additional Outlets
- Seperate Office Space – This may even be your vehicle.
- Filing Cabinets
- Storage Cabinet
- Soft Lighting – This is important for long hours when your eyes start getting tired, as are the lager monitors.
- High Speed Cat 6 Internet Cables
- Satellite Internet – Do you need internet connection when out in the mountains or away from Wifi?
- Satellite Phone – You may want one of these for emergencies or if you want to stay remote and still surf the web.
- VPN Router & Service.
This About Covers the Equipment You Need
I am going to keep this article pretty short as I will cover each one of the items above in a separate article.
I know you’re yelling……”NO, PLEASE KEEP ON WRITING!”
Sorry to disappoint you but not today. I just wanted to introduce the subject and follow up in more detail soon.
Take some time and enjoy your family and friends with this free time.
Please leave a Comments Below or Email me if you would like me to add something else to this list.
I have written another article about “What do You Need for a Home Office – Planning a Home Office” which has some additional things to think about for setting up your home office.
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Bestseller No. 1 
HP DeskJet 2855e Wireless All-in-One Color Inkjet Printer, Scanner, Copier, Best-for-home, 3 months of Instant Ink included (588S5A)
- FROM AMERICA'S MOST TRUSTED PRINTER BRAND – The DeskJet 2855e is perfect for homes printing to-do lists, letters, financial documents and recipes. Print speeds up to 5.5 ppm color, 7.5 ppm black.
- KEY FEATURES – Color printing, copy, scan, and a 60-sheet input tray
- WIRELESS PRINTING – Stay connected with our most reliable Wi-Fi, which automatically detects and resolves connection issues; Wireless operations are compatible with 2.4 GHz operations only
- HP APP – Print, scan, copy, or fax right from your smartphone with the easiest-to-use print app
- 3 MONTHS OF INK INCLUDED when you activate HP+ – Subscribe to Instant Ink delivery service to get ink delivered directly to your door before you run out. After 3 months, monthly fee applies unless cancelled, and you save up to 50%.
- COMPACT DESIGN – Made to fit any home
Bestseller No. 2 
HP OfficeJet 8015e Wireless Color All-in-One Printer, 6 months of Instant Ink included
- 6 MONTHS OF INSTANT INK INCLUDED WITH HP+ – Print up to 700 pages a month and get ink delivered only when you need it. After 6 months, monthly fee applies unless cancelled, and you'll save up to 50% on ink
- INCLUDES HP+ SMART FEATURES – Activate HP+ to get advanced features for mobile printing, security, automatic updates and more. HP+ only works with an HP account, internet connection and Original HP Ink for the life of the printer
- BEST FOR SMALL BUSINESSES AND HOME OFFICES – Print professional-quality color documents like forms, reports, brochures and presentations
- KEY FEATURES – Fast color print, copy and scan, plus 2-sided printing, mobile and wireless printing, and an auto document feeder
- FAST PRINT SPEEDS – Print up to 18 pages per minute in black and 10 pages per minute in color
- DUAL BAND WI-FI – Self-healing Wi-FiTM automatically detects and resolves connection issues
SaleBestseller No. 3 
HP DeskJet 2734e Wireless Color All-in-One Printer with 6 months of Instant Ink included (26K72A), White
- The HP DeskJet 2734e has the essential features you need to print basic color documents like recipes and forms. Print, copy and scan with ease, print from your phone and get easy setup. Includes the optional HP+ Smart Printing System that keeps itself up to date and ready to print from virtually anywhere at any time-at no additional cost.
- PERFECT FOR HOME - Best for printing basic color documents like recipes, forms and travel documents. Print speeds up to 7.5 pages per minute in black or 5.5 pages per minute in color.
- KEY FEATURES - Print, copy and scan in color, plus mobile and wireless printing
- INCLUDES FREE HP+ SMART FEATURES - Upgrade free to HP+ during setup to get advanced features for mobile printing, security, automatic updates and more. HP+ only works with an HP account, internet connection and Original HP Ink for the life of the printer.
- CONNECTIVITY - Dual-band Wi-Fi with self-reset automatically detects and resolves connectivity issues. Also includes USB 2.0 port.
- 6 MONTHS OF INK INCLUDED when you activate HP+ – Subscribe to Instant Ink delivery service to get ink delivered directly to your door before you run out. After 6 months, monthly fee applies unless cancelled, and you save up to 50%
$84.99 −$35.00 
Check Amazon Price Bestseller No. 4 
HP DeskJet 4255e Wireless All-in-One Color Inkjet Printer, Scanner, Copier, Best-for-Home, 3 Months of Instant Ink Included (588S6A)
- FROM AMERICA'S MOST TRUSTED PRINTER BRAND – The DeskJet 4255e is perfect for homes printing to-do lists, letters, financial documents and recipes. Print speeds up to 5.5 ppm color, 8.5 ppm black.
- KEY FEATURES – Color printing, copy, scan, auto document feeder, and a 60-sheet input tray
- WIRELESS PRINTING – Stay connected with our most reliable Wi-Fi, which automatically detects and resolves connection issues
- HP APP – Print, scan, copy, or fax right from your smartphone with the easiest-to-use print app
- 3 MONTHS OF INK INCLUDED when you activate HP+ – Subscribe to Instant Ink delivery service to get ink delivered directly to your door before you run out. After 3 months, monthly fee applies unless cancelled, and you save up to 50%.
- COMPACT DESIGN – Made to fit any home
SaleBestseller No. 5 
Epson EcoTank ET-2800 Wireless Color All-in-One Cartridge-Free Supertank Printer with Scan and Copy – The Ideal Basic Home Printer - Black, Medium
- Innovative Cartridge-Free Printing ― No more tiny, expensive ink cartridges; each ink bottle set is equivalent to about 80 individual cartridges (2)
- Dramatic Savings on Replacement Ink ― Save up to 90% with replacement ink bottles vs. ink cartridges (1) – that’s enough to print up to 4,500 pages black/7,500 color (3)
- Stress-Free Printing — Up to 2 years of ink in the box (4) – and with every replacement ink set – for fewer out of ink frustrations
- High-Capacity Ink Tanks — Epson’s exclusive EcoFit ink bottles make filling easy and worry-free
- Zero Cartridge Waste — By using an EcoTank printer, you can help reduce the amount of cartridge waste ending up in landfills
- Impressive Print Quality ― Unique Micro Piezo Heat Free technology produces sharp text – plus impressive color photos and graphics – on virtually any paper type
Hey Rick ,
Don’t worry about shortness haha , google still appreciates the love . Great article
Dwight
Thanks. The following articles will go into datail on each of the listed items and those articles will be longer. I had to start off this subject someplace and that was the best way I could think about doing it.
Hey Rick!
That’s a great overview of equipment! I didn’t even think of some of those things before reading this. I should keep this in mind to check out your more in-depth articles coming soon. Out of curiousity, will you be sharing what you personally use as well?
Thank you for your info!
Calista
I will be writing more extensively and yes, I will list talk about what I am using. I know there are a lot of great laptops on the market so I won’t be trying to convince anyone to buy a certain one. I will just be list the pros and cons of each and then talking about what I like about mine and what would be more important when I buy my next one.
That laptop article is one that I am getting ready to start, maybe even this evening.
You list all the necessary tool for working from home. It shows that a home business starts with preparation, which must be done long before you even attempt to open a laptop.
Fortunately I had to think about it pretty hard when I first started working at home as I was actually starting an engineering company. I needed some expensive software, a heavy duty printer and a large scale printer. It was way more than a laptop. If only the laptop was my only expense.
My current at-home business really on requires the laptop and a smart phone, however, all of the other things are important, in my opinion, if you want to work more comfortably.
Great article Rick.
I think most people have at one point tried to make a success in working from home but we are bombarded with information when searching for opportunities. This website has proved very useful and I’m sure you have put in hours of research.
Thanks for the information available.
Hi Een. Thanks for stopping by and sharing these thoughts. I was amazed at how much I ended up needing when I set up my office for the first time. There are ways to save money but then you also find out that some of the “must have” software is a little expensive. I hope to show people what works and what some great options are as they go about setting up their home office, or better yet, a remote office that you can use anywhere in the world.
Very informative recommendations of makes of office equipment would help.
Thank you for the comment and I will be adding information, reviews, and opinions soon, like this week. I had to start somewhere so this article was my introduction. Please check back often and offer comments and advice as I will be adding a lot of office equipment articles.