High-Speed Access to The Web in Anchorage, Alaska

Access to High Speed Internet in Anchorage, Alaska: Metro Ethernet Access, Company Broadband and Gigabit Internet

These days, companies in Anchorage, Alaska depend on reliable Internet access as the lifeblood of their business. The organization functions of all companies, from Fortune 500 to small companies, depend on fast and reliable access to The net.

In the coming months and years, we are going to become increasingly dependent on our access to the net.

From email messaging to information sharing, e-commerce to archiving data, and voice over IP to video conferencing, the net is omnipresent. What is the right solution to meet your requirements? Perhaps a cable modem is all you need. Metro Ethernet? Gigabit Internet may satisfy your needs. Does your company in Anchorage, Alaska need one of these: 10 Meg access to The web, a 100 Meg access to The net point, a 50 meg circuit or a 5 meg circuit?

Defining the Organization Need for Internet Access

Prior to selecting a service, your business must figure out its needs. Why will you need the net? Will you only be web surfing and emailing? Is connecting with cloud servers and sharing real time data the main use of the web? Perhaps you, in Anchorage, are hosting the data and remote sites rely upon this.

What if there is an outage and your high-speed Internet is interrupted? How might the downtime cause problems for your business? Is uptime essential? Prior to making any purchases, you must determine the answers to these questions.

Looking at Different High Speed Internet Solutions: Anchorage

It is no secret that all companies need high-speed access to the net. Deciding on the right broadband is not easy. It requires a thorough cost-benefit analysis. While you are likely to hear some providers toss around terms such as:

• High-speed Internet access
• Corporate Internet
• What about broadband cable modems?
• Metro Ethernet service
• Gigabit Internet
• MPLS network
• Services related to point-to-point circuits
• 5-megabyte access circuits
• 10 Meg Internet access circuits
• High-speed 50-megabyte access to The net circuits
• Internet access circuits- One hundred megabytes
• We provide sip trunks
• Dedicated Internet line
• … and much more

… do not lose sight of the real issues: what are the capabilities and technical solutions you need to best serve your company?

Web Surfing and Company Internet Access

At any company in Anchorage some employees, if not all employees, need some type of access to the internet if they are to properly perform their job duties. The web is required for so many things, whether to order items, look up company information speak with third parties.

Perhaps the size of your work force may determine the solution that best fits your needs. A 5 or 10 megabyte Internet circuit may be perfect if you only have a few employees. If your business has nearly 50 people, however, and they all need to use the net at the same time, you may find that more is better.

Your workforce may simply use an intranet system with limited video and graphics. If this is true, your need for high speed Internet be less than you thought. On the other hand, when they are frequently downloading documents, images and videos, that need for speed increases drastically.

Does your business regularly conduct backups? If you are doing remote backups from every desk, which is advisable, you will need to be able to support simultaneous connections out to the web to synchronize your backup data.

Are you using a service such as DropBox or Google drive to share files? When you save a file it is pushed to the cloud. Then it is synched to the computer or computers of someone else. You must have sufficient bandwidth if you are to successfully support every service including file sharing.

High-speed organization Internet access like Metro Ethernet and gigabit Internet may be viable options for you depending on your location. They are almost always found in “lit buildings” in Anchorage, Alaska that are already wired by a carrier. The ease and affordability of adding high-speed Internet to your office may surprise you.

While it may be the case that bringing Metro Ethernet into a new building can cause a big dent in your wallet, bringing the connection to a suite or offices within that building does not have to. Depending on availability, it is often possible to obtain high-speed access to The Internet with Metro Ethernet or gigabit Internet in 30 days or less.

High-Speed Internet access Required for Hosting Applications

Does your company host its own servers? Does your company use the hosted servers to run data feeds, APIs or websites for offices or businesses located elsewhere? Are your organization headquarters with a hosted application connected to fifty or more satellite offices? Are you hosting the point of sale (POS) system for 15, 000 retail chain stores? Are you a legal practice hosting the data for three locations?

Granting access to outsiders is necessary when you host data and programs at a central location. If your Internet connection goes down, those people are unable to work. If you need multiple connections to function at the same time from many different places, make sure that your intranet solution can reliably support it.

For one office or a small organization with just one or two people surfing the web, a less expensive 10 Meg circuit or a cable modem may meet your needs. High-speed dedicated circuits, Metro Ethernet or gigabit Ethernet are advisable for company headquarters. While high speed is great, you also need support for your multiple diverse connections. A cable modem would likely be insufficient.

Which is Better for You in Anchorage, Alaska? Dedicated Internet Bandwidth or Shared Cable Circuits?

In some situations, there is a high price to pay for bringing in an inexpensive circuit or cable modem. Your low monthly bill may mean that the bandwidth is shared among multiple tenants. If you subscribe to a cable modem with a 30-megabyte connection, you would expect to always be able to reach that high speed. However, it is possible that during peak hours, you won’t. Many cable companies only deliver a set amount of bandwidth within a community. The bandwidth branches off to the multiple buildings, offices and tenants within them. With a 30-megabyte connection, you may not get to that speed during the working day. Is this a problem for you if you expect 30 and get 6?

You can find a carrier who can provide dedicated and guaranteed bandwidth. In this case, your organization receives full allocation of bandwidth. There is no sharing with any outsiders. The presence of numerous buildings and tenants should have no effect on your speed. You should receive full capacity of your circuits no matter what the time of day.

For example, Metro Ethernet guarantees bandwidth in 5 met circuits, 10 Meg circuits, 50 and 100 Meg circuits. Gigabit Internet providers offer gigabit speeds from your office to the net.

Here, carriers deliver enough high-speed to the building, so that it can be split among various tenants. The carrier has the right amount so that everyone gets the contracted speed that has been promised.

Redundant High Speed Organization Internet in Anchorage, Alaska: Why More Circuits?

The truth is that circuits can go down in Anchorage, Alaska even though some carriers offer superior Internet bandwidth products. The question then becomes, “how do I minimize my chance of an outage? ”

Consider redundant circuits.

There are, in reality, two kinds of redundancy.

The first kind of redundancy exists when one carrier provides one customer with many circuits. This provides some protection when there are certain failures. Multiple circuits can help for example, when there is a physical line issue or a problem with a router port. It is possible for both circuits to go down. If your carrier has a regional problem like a widespread outage, or there is a broken line outside your building, even your redundant circuits may fail. While there is some security in this, you are still vulnerable under some circumstances.

Bringing in circuits using two distinct carriers is the second form of circuit redundancy. You may want your circuits to appear and act as if they are one and come from the same source. If so you can use IP address allocations and advanced routers to do so. Though they may appear as one, you know that they are each individual circuits and redundant to each other. Diversity redundancy, as this is called, offers you more protection that you might realize. In the event that one carrier goes down, the other will still be alive.

You should look for redundant circuits from providers in Anchorage, Alaska that do not have the same physical geographic pathways, in order to get the most redundancy. Basically this means that you want your circuits to enter your building on different sides or paths. The circuits would attached to the proper outside source whether a subterranean conduit or a telephone pole. They would be set up in different directions and would lead to different data centers or main office spaces. If you can accomplish this, you are protected from a major catastrophe. For example, if a there is a fire or some other accident that negatively affects circuits in a region, you have redundancy in a physically different direction.

What Are the Costs Associated With Not Adequately Protecting Your Organization High-Speed access to The web?

The cost of dependable access to The web pales in comparison to the cost of unreliable access. Please think about the following scenarios:

Your organization telephone utilizes voice-over Internet Protocol, or VoIP as it is commonly known

The carrier you use for your cable modem also provides circuits for a dozen or more tenants in the office building. It is possible that during normal company hours, those tenants might be downloading large files or watching continuous videos. They might be getting a lot of phone calls. As available bandwidth shrinks, what will happen to your calls? What about the quality of your calls? Are calls lost or dropped? Will your voice be inaudible? Will you have difficulty hearing the other end?

Your office is the main data point for various other offices

Your office is the center of your business. You may be a law firm that does file sharing or a retailer operating a POS system. All of your sites, you may have 2, you may have 500, you may have 4, 000, depend on your main Internet connection to access and receive data. What happens if your circuit goes down? Is it simply an irritation or a catastrophe? Can your satellite or remote office do any work at all? Take new orders? Service existing ones? Dispense and receive data? Be sure you understand your requirements fully before choosing a solution. Maybe you are a corporation that designs and sells software and you run a hosted solution that is used by hundreds and hundreds of customers. Is an API utilized in your organization so that your customers can access and communicate with your system? What if other systems can’t connect to your office servers? How will repeated outages affect your customers? Will they remain customers?

You have a large call center that is completely reliant on voice over Internet protocol

What if your organization could not function at all without the net? Maybe your company relies on it completely. No outbound calls can be made should your circuits go down. Your reps have no way of answering calls, if they even know they are coming in. Basically, you are out of company. While most call centers that are reputable use redundancy, is it enough? Are your current providers as dependable as you would like? Is the quality of service sufficient for your calls to be clear and reliable?

The Correct High-Speed Organization Access Circuits for Your Anchorage, Alaska Company: How to Choose

Obviously, there are a variety of choices. Your business budget and needs will play a large part in your decision-making. As a high-level summary:

Small Organization Internet Access

If you have one location or office and do not feel the need to consider redundancy for your system, a smaller access to The web circuit may be all you need. A single fifty, ten or five megabyte circuit might be enough. You may find that if your building is “lit”, gigabit service and Metro Ethernet service may be reasonably cost-effective choices for you. Speak with our engineers about what is right for you. Prices vary with location and circuit availability.

Medium Sized Company in One Location: Access to the Internet

You have a mid-sized Anchorage, Alaska company; higher speed access to The Internet required. Your options are Metro Ethernet, gigabit Internet and higher speed circuits. Ideally, multiple circuits from multiple providers will provide you with the greatest redundancy. This may be attainable without doubling your costs. Two 50-megabyte circuits may be more cost effective than a single 100 circuit. Again, costs vary. Availability also varies. Speaking with one of our experts will help you determine the options available in your specific location.

Midsized Businesses with Multiple Locations: Internet Access

The greatest risk of failure belongs to companies that have multiple places of business or offices. They need redundant circuits. It is helpful if they use multiple providers. In addition, consider redundant equipment. Redundant routers and switches can minimize risk also. Here also, examine the Ethernet access services, gigabit Internet and Metro Ethernet providers. Take a careful look at other high-speed access to The Internet circuit providers before choosing the right one. Your company can benefit from finding the right mix of services and providers.

If you are a larger company, an enterprise company or a are in the company of providing services using the Internet

Companies such as these require the following: Metro Ethernet, gigabit Internet and point-to-point (PPP) high-speed Internet circuits. If you want to ensure your valuable uptime, have redundant circuits from multiple carriers as well as redundant hardware. The last thing you want is interruptions or slowdowns affecting your organization. You must provide enough bandwidth to avoid these pitfalls that sometimes occur during sudden usage spikes. Be sure to have the right circuits and hardware. They both must be able to support multiple, fast, concurrent connections.

Free Internet Demand and Need Analysis

The danger and risk of failing circuits is tremendous. So is the risk of having less bandwidth than you need. Your ideal single circuit or multiple circuits should stay within your budget while still meeting your demands. Selecting the appropriate mix of circuits and hardware can overwhelm you.

Our engineers can help. We will analyze your requirements and needs and create a free action plan for you. We are going to examine your demand levels and current usage. We are going to then design a plan that keeps your costs reasonable while meeting your demand for a smoothly run company.

An appointment for an assessment can be made by calling our office or clicking here to complete the contact form on the side of this page. We do assessments quickly. It can take as little as 48 hours to complete your analysis.