In today’s economy a slow internet connection is simply unacceptable, and can cause ripple effects that disrupt entire offices, leading to an astonishing loss of productivity. Employees, in the middle of their thoughts, wind up waiting on the network to respond while customers and clients may find their experience with your hosted applications negatively affected.
What passed for a fast connection only a few years ago is now far too slow, and bandwidth demand is at an all time high. This often makes estimating demand and balancing costs and connection options a challenge for small and medium-sized businesses.
First, a disclaimer. The amount of bandwidth that you need will change, often dramatically, based on the number of users working simultaneously on the computer network and the tasks that those users are performing. A small business with only a few very active users may actually use far more bandwidth on a consistent basis than a large business with more moderate demand.
However, assuming that your employees are performing normal office tasks (including moving large files occasionally), it is safe to assume that your business will need up to 1 Mbps per user to run comfortably with few, if any, slowdowns.
Mbps, of course, refers to Megabits per second and is the unit of speed (data transfer speed) used to measure internet connections. This is not to be confused with a Megabyte, a term used to describe the size of a data file. It is important to note that a Megabit is only 1/8th the size of a Megabyte, meaning that to download a 1MB file in 1 second you would need a connection of 8Mbps—without taking into account the other information the connection may be transferring.
The typical business has 4 or 5 options for high speed, high bandwidth internet.
DSL – Digital Subscriber Line
DSL uses the same wires and technology used to transfer audio information in traditional landline phone service. Some locations have more reliable DSL service than others, and speeds are generally slower than other options and can vary depending on the time of day, service work, and other factors. DSL is generally inexpensive, but offers relatively low bandwidth.
T1 Connection
T1 access has been standard across many industries for many years due to its remarkably stable speed and reliability. T1 connections are often repaired weeks before DSL or cable after hurricanes or other natural disasters. However, the standard T1 is only 1.5 Mbps and the costs can be high.
T3 Connection
A T3 connection consists of 28 T1 connections bundled together. Same reliability, but at a considerable cost.
Cable
Cable used for high speed internet is the same cable used for cable TV, and offers good speeds at an affordable cost. However, the service is shared and speeds may fluctuate depending on local usage. Also, reliability is generally less than T1 lines.
Fiber Optic Cables
While not yet available in all locations, Fast Ethernet and Gigabit Ethernet offer the best bang for your buck in high-usage situations with outstanding reliability. These services use fiber optic cable and can go up to speeds of 10,000 Mbps (1 G) or more.
Fortunately, Grundig IT can help you evaluate your usage and come up with a plan that works for both your users and your budget. Call us today at (925) 528-9081 to learn more!
