The Net in Baltimore: High-Speed Access

Baltimore High Speed Access to the World Wide Web: Accessing Metro Ethernet, Business Broadband and Gigabit Internet

In today’s environment, companies in Baltimore rely on reliable access to The Internet as the lifeblood of their business. All companies, from Fortune 500 to small companies, have functions that rely on easy, dependable and quick Internet access.

In the months and years ahead, people and businesses will become more dependent on access to the web.

From email messaging to information sharing, e-commerce to archiving data, and voice over IP to video conferencing, the internet is omnipresent. What is the best solution for you? Is a cable modem sufficient? It could be that you need Metro Ethernet. Gigabit Internet may satisfy your needs. A 5 Meg Internet circuit, 10 Meg access to The Internet, a 50 Meg circuit, or a 100 Meg access to The Internet point: what is right for your organization in Baltimore, Maryland?

Defining Your Business’s access to The web Needs

Before choosing an adequate or appropriate service, you must decide what your business really needs. Will web surfing and email be your primary use of the web? Is real time data connection with cloud servers crucial to your company? There may be remote locations that rely on you and you are hosting the data in Baltimore.

How would an outage to your high-speed Internet affect your company? Can your company afford a long pause or lull in productivity? Is uptime essential? You must answer questions like these so you can make a purchase that actually meets your needs

High-Speed Internet in Baltimore: Explaining Different Solutions

High-speed access to the internet is something all companies need. Deciding on the right broadband internet is not easy. It requires a thorough cost-benefit analysis. While you are likely to hear some service providers toss around terms such as:

• Internet access at high-speeds
• Business Internet service provider
• broadband cable modems
• Metro Ethernet service provider
• Gigabit Internet
• MPLS services
• point-to-point circuits
• 5 Meg Internet access
• 10 megabyte Internet access
• Internet access-50 Meg
• One hundred megabytes- fast Internet access circuits
• Sip trunking providers
• Dedicated or “specific” Internet access
• … plus others

… 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

Companies in Baltimore, Maryland need access to the internet for their employees. Some companies may need it only for a few people and others may need it for the entire workforce. Whether it is for business research, to order supplies or to use third-party applications, the net is required.

Your best course of action may be determined by the size of your work force. A smaller Internet circuit may be enough if you only have a handful of workers. Perhaps a 5 or 10 megabyte is all you need. If you have many employees who need to use the net at the same time, you may do better with more.

Perhaps most workers at your company use an intranet system with limited features. High- speed Internet may not be a priority in this case. On the other hand, Internet speed becomes dramatically more important when they are required to regularly download things like documents or videos.

Are you regularly performing backups? Synchronizing your backup data after doing remote backups from every desk requires you to support simultaneous connections out to the web.

Does your company require employees to share files using a service like Google drive or DropBox? As people save files, those files are pushed to the cloud and then synchronized back to other people’s computers. Running all your services properly, including sharing files, requires that you have the right amount of bandwidth.

Your organization location may cause you to think about high-speed company access to The web such as Metro Ethernet and/or gigabit Internet. These are typically found in “lit buildings” in Baltimore. Providers have already wired these buildings. You may be surprised by how easy and affordable it is to add high-speed Internet to your business.

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. In fact, in as little as 30 days, you may be able to obtain high-speed access to the internet with either gigabit Internet or Metro Ethernet. It depends upon availability.

Maximize Internet-based Applications With High-Speed Internet Access

Your company may host its own servers. Do they run websites APIs or data feeds for external offices? Are your company headquarters with a hosted application accessed by 50 branch offices? Is your organization retail? Do you have thousands of stores? Do you host the point of sale system for the entire chain? Do you run a law office that hosts the data for satellite offices in different cities or states?

If your company hosts its programs and information at a central location, people outside of that location need to have access in order to conduct business. People can’t work if you have no Internet connection. Are you picking an intranet solution that provides reliability and stability for your multiple, simultaneous connections from various sites?

A cost friendly 10 Meg circuit or even a cable modem may satisfy the needs of a company with a single office that needs to surf the web. Company headquarters should have high-speed Internet access such as gigabit Ethernet, Metro Ethernet or some other high-speed dedicated circuit. High speed is important but they also must be able to support multiple distinct connections. This could probably not be accomplished with a cable modem.

Which is Better for You in Baltimore? Dedicated Internet Bandwidth or Shared Cable Circuits?

In many cases, installing an inexpensive cable modem comes at a price. There may be a lower monthly rate, but bandwidth is usually shared with many 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. Only a certain amount of bandwidth may be available in a community. Many cable companies have limits on the amount they can deliver. The bandwidth branches off to the multiple buildings, offices and tenants within them. While you may be capped at thirty-megabyte speed, will you ever reach that speed during organization hours? Is this a problem for you if you expect 30 and get 6?

You can sign up for dedicated and guaranteed bandwidth from some carriers. With these, bandwidth belongs to you and your business only; no sharing. No matter who is in the building or what buildings surround you, you should always run at full speed.

You can receive guaranteed bandwidth with Metro Ethernet. You can receive it in increments of five, 10, 50 or one hundred megabyte circuits. If you want to reach gigabit speeds from your organization out to the net, you can by using a gigabit Internet provider.

Here, providers 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.

Incorporating Redundancy Into Your High Speed Organization Internet Circuits in Baltimore

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

You may be a candidate for redundant circuits.

Essentially, there are two different ways to look at redundancy.

The first type exists when the same carrier gives you multiple 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. If that carrier has a wide reaching outage or there is a line broken or damaged outside of your building, both circuits may go down. There is some protection that comes with this but there is risk as well.

Circuit redundancy can also be achieved in the following way: Import circuits using two different and distinct providers. By using IP address allocations and certain routers, you can bind your connections. By doing this, it appears and behaves as a single circuit. Truthfully, they are entirely separate. They are redundant and exist in case one of them fails. This is called diversity redundancy and offers more protection that the first. You will still have a live, fully functioning carrier if one fails.

For maximum redundancy, you should look for redundant circuits from different carriers with different physical geographic pathways in Baltimore, Maryland. Essentially, this just means that you do not want both of your circuits to enter the building on the same side. They should come in on different sides. They would be on outside phone poles or underground conduits in different directions and leading to different places. This way, if there is a major catastrophe, such as a fire at a data center or a major accident impacting circuits within a region, you have redundancy in a different physical direction.

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

Internet access costs money but the cost of NOT having reliable access to The Internet is greater. Consider the following:

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

Your business is on a cable modem and your carrier provides circuits to 20 other offices in your 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. What will happen to your telephone calls as the amount of usable bandwidth decreases? How will the caliber of the call be affected? Will calls be cut-off? Inaudible (choppy) to your customers?

Multiple sites use your organization as the central data point

You may be an accounting firm that shares databases, a retail chain company utilizing a point of sale system or a law practice sharing files. Regardless of the specifics, your office is the hub for your enterprise. 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 crashes? Would it cause mere annoyance or utter disaster? Is work even possible at your other sites? Can they process transactions or new orders? Dispense and receive data? Picking the right a solution can be difficult. Before doing so, be sure you fully understand your requirements. You have a software company, and are running a hosted solution for dozens, maybe hundreds, of customers. Do you operate a service where other systems talk to yours by using an application program interface (API)? For example do other systems gain access to yours in order to calculate rates, prices, or to collect information that you serve up? What if you have server problems and they are unable to connect to you? Customers do not enjoy repeated outages. How long with they put up with them before looking to take their business elsewhere?

The telephone system at your call center relies on VoIP

Your organization is completely reliant on the internet. No outbound calls can be made should your circuits go down. No calls could be answered either. Looks like you are now out of business. Even for the most reputable call centers that already know of and use redundancy, is it sufficient? 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 Company Access Circuits for Your Baltimore, Maryland Company: How to Choose

Clearly, there are many choices. Your choices will largely rely on your budget, in addition to the other requirements of your business. As a wrap-up:

Internet Access and the Small Business

Sometimes redundancy is not vital to you. For example, If you are a small company, with just one office location, a single access to The net circuit may be sufficient. You may get by with one 50, 10 or even 5 megabyte circuit. Is your building lit? If so, find out about gigabit or Metro Ethernet services. They may be reasonably priced options. Prices change based on your location and the availability of circuits. Please speak with our engineers about what options best suit your needs.

Internet Access-One Location- Medium Sized Business

Mid-sized businesses in Baltimore should be equipped with higher-speed Internet. You may choose between gigabit Internet or Metro Ethernet. You may also look into other higher-speed Internet circuits. Multiple circuits utilizing multiple providers would, ideally, provide you with maximum redundancy. Achieving this may cost extra but it won’t double your costs. For example, choosing two 50 meg circuits versus one 100 meg circuit. As a reminder; availability and costs may vary. Your specific location will determine what options you have. Please speak with one of our experts to find out what those are and how we can meet your needs.

Internet Access for Mid-Sized Businesses with Several Locations

If your business has several places or offices, you are at great risk for failure. Redundant circuits are a necessity. It is helpful if they use multiple carriers. In addition, consider redundant equipment. Redundant routers and switches can minimize risk also. As always, take a careful look and choose the right Ethernet access services, Metro Ethernet providers, gigabit Internet providers and other high-speed Internet access circuit providers. Your organization can benefit from finding the right mix of services and carriers.

Clients who provide services delivered via Internet, large corporate and enterprise clientele

To run efficiently and effectively, corporations and businesses that fall into this category must use point-to-point high-speed Internet circuits, gigabit Internet circuits and Metro Ethernet circuits. Redundant hardware and redundant circuits will, for these businesses, ensure the greatest uptime. Be sure the circuits are from different providers. The last thing you want is interruptions or slowdowns affecting your business. You must provide enough bandwidth to avoid these pitfalls that sometimes occur during sudden usage spikes. Both your hardware and circuits must be capable of supporting a vast number of simultaneous and fast connections.

Internet Demand and Internet Need: Receive Free Analysis

Insufficient bandwidth and failing circuits are present tremendous risk to your company. Your ideal single circuit or multiple circuits should stay within your budget while still meeting your demands. You have to select the optimal combination of hardware and circuits, which is a daunting task.

Our engineers will take the pressure off and develop a free action plan for you by analyzing your needs. We will look at your current usage, demand levels and scope out a design to give you the resources you need while keeping your business up and running at a reasonable cost.

Please complete the contact form by clicking here. You may also call our office to set up an appointment for your assessment. We do assessments quickly. It can take as little as 48 hours to complete your analysis.