Where to turn when internet speeds are slowing you down
It’s difficult to imagine what business life would be like without the internet. Over the past 20 years the digital revolution has transformed the way we work with email and web collaboration now becoming the standard for the majority of our business communication.
For most, the advent of reliable and fast broadband services means they can take the unfolding revolution for granted. However, for those in rural areas or removed from digital exchanges, poor internet speeds can be a real headache. So if your business relies on good quality internet access but you’re not getting it what are your options?
Firstly, we’d recommend you audit your IT systems and internet usage thoroughly. Take time to understand where the bottle necks are in your data traffic. For instance you may have cloud backups scheduled during business hours that are hogging your bandwidth. Or a single employee with a love for downloaded movies may be preventing more productive staff from sending those vital email attachments.
Then we’d open a conversation with your service provider to understand what technologies are available at your location. Even if the desired solution is not currently available you’ll be able to get a rough idea of when its likely to be rolled out which could have a big bearing on whether you invest in new infrastructure.
Ideally, you’ll be looking for a fibre optic connection from the exchange right up to your building. However this is often not possible and there are many situations where data is carried on fibre for much of the journey and then on traditional copper wire (which has much less capacity) for small portions where fibre doesn’t exist.
By increasing the amount of connections to your building and then sharing your load across them you can improve speeds and reliability. Its also a good idea to have more than one provider so that if one service fails you can fall back on the other.
If you’re a larger business or just heavily dependent on good comms you may want to consider a dedicated leased line. These are a far more expensive option but offer super fast and reliable internet access. Costs will vary depending on the capacity you choose and you may incur charges if cables have to be laid but its worth considering how much money poor internet is costing your business? We’ve seen business productivity increase well beyond expectations for a number of companies whose staff no longer spend their days staring at progress bars following the installation of a leased line.
If you’re struggling to achieve what you need to with your current internet speeds contact us here at Managed Technology and we’ll walk you through your options. Our expert and experienced team will quickly find out what is possible in your location and suggest a range of solutions that could transform your business.