High-Speed Access to The Net in Charlottesville

Accessing High Speed Internet in Charlottesville: Gigabit Internet, Business Broadband Internet and Metro Ethernet Access

Today’s environment demands that companies in Charlottesville, Virginia have reliable Internet service in order to run their organization. All companies count on reliable and quick Internet access. This is true regardless of how large or small the organization.

Our dependence on Internet access will continue to grow in the coming months and years.

The net has a significant presence in our lives. From email to information sharing, data archiving to e-commerce, and VOIP to video conferencing, the net is certainly ubiquitous. What can best meet your needs? Will a cable modem be adequate? Your needs may point to Metro Ethernet as a solution. Your needs may be met with Gigabit Internet. Does your company in Charlottesville need one of these: 10 Meg Internet access, a 100 Meg access to The Internet point, a 50 meg circuit or a 5 meg circuit?

Determining your Company Need for Internet Access

The needs of your particular company must be determined before you can select an appropriate service. Are surfing the web and sending email the only uses of the internet? Is connecting with cloud servers and sharing real time data the main use of the internet? Perhaps you, in Charlottesville, are hosting the data and remote locations depend upon this.

Have you thought about what happens to your company if your high-speed Internet is interrupted by an outage? Can your company afford a long pause or lull in productivity? Is uptime essential? Before you buy anything, you must answer these questions.

High-Speed Internet in Charlottesville, Virginia: Explaining Different Solutions

It is no secret that all companies need high-speed access to the net. An analysis of the costs and benefits should be done prior to choosing the broadband that is correct for your organization. Many service providers toss out terms such as:

• Fastest Internet access
• Business Internet service provider
• Provider of broadband cable modems
• Metro Ethernet service
• GbE services or Gigabit Internet
• MPLS
• Point to point data circuits
• Five megabyte Internet access circuit
• 10 megabyte Internet access
• We provide Internet access circuits-50 Meg
• We provide 100-megabyte access to The Internet circuits
• sip trunking / sip trunks
• Direct or dedicated Internet access
• … and much more

… the actual issue is knowing what technology and capability can satisfy your needs.

Business Access: Surfing the web at Work

For most companies in Charlottesville, some or all of the employees need access to the web. Third party applications, organization research or development and e-commerce are just some of the ways the net may be needed.

The best solution may rely on how many employees you have. An Internet circuit of 5 -10 megabytes might be enough for your business if you only have a few people working for you. If your company has nearly 50 people, however, and they all need to use the web at the same time, you may find that more is better.

High-speed Internet may become less important if the majority of your employees primarily use an intranet system with limited graphics and video. However, employees who must often download documents, images and videos, need that speed.

Does your business regularly conduct backups? Simultaneous connections to the web, which you need in order to sync your backup data, require support. If you conduct remote backups from every workstation, which you definitely should, this will be important.

Do you use a file sharing service like Google drive or DropBox? The saved files go to the cloud and are then synchronized or “shared” with other people’s computers. In order to ensure that all of your functions work properly, in addition to file sharing, you must have sufficient bandwidth.

Your business location may cause you to think about high-speed company Internet access such as Metro Ethernet and/or gigabit Internet. “Lit buildings” that have already been wired by a carrier, are commonly the site for these. If you’d like to install high-speed Internet in your office, you should know that it might be more affordable than you realize.

Absent the need to introduce Metro Ethernet into a new building, it is not particularly costly to connect Metro Ethernet to a suite or office within that building. In fact, in as little as 30 days, you may be able to obtain high-speed access to the net with either gigabit Internet or Metro Ethernet. It depends upon availability.

Hosted Applications Requiring High-Speed Internet Access

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? Do your headquarters have a hosted Internet application that must be accessed regularly by 40 or 50 branch offices? Are you hosting the point of sale (POS) system for 15, 000 retail chain stores? Are you a law firm hosting data for multiple office places?

When data and programs are hosted centrally at one main site, people outside that location must gain access. If the web connection is interrupted or fails, those people are unable to accomplish any work. Is the intranet solution you are choosing sufficiently reliable? Is it stable enough to support simultaneous connections from different places?

The needs of an office with one employee web surfing may not need more than a cable modem or an inexpensive 5-10 megabyte circuit. High-speed access to The net is advisable for the headquarters. Gigabit Ethernet, Metro Ethernet or some other high-speed dedicated circuit is recommended. While all offer high speeds, they also need to be capable of supporting multiple diverse connections. A cable modem would likely not provide the necessary support.

Cable Circuit Sharing in Charlottesville, Virginia Versus Dedicated Bandwidth: What is Right For You?

In some situations, there is a high price to pay for bringing in an inexpensive circuit or cable modem. You may save money on your monthly bill but the bandwidth you get must be shared among many people. It is possible that you have a cable modem with a 30 Meg connection but cannot reach proper speeds during peak hours. Many cable companies only deliver a set amount of bandwidth within a community. That bandwidth reaches out like branches to every building in the community and the people living and working in those buildings. While you may be capped at a 30 Meg speed, you may never be able to reach that speed during organization hours. Will there be trouble if your expectation is set at 30 but you only get 8 or 10?

Other carriers do offer dedicated and guaranteed bandwidth. With these options, bandwidth is yours. It is not shared with anyone outside of your business. Notwithstanding the existence of tenants, offices or buildings in the area, you should have the full capability of your circuits at all times.

For example, Metro Ethernet guarantees bandwidth in 5 met circuits, 10 Meg circuits, 50 and 100 Meg circuits. If you want to reach gigabit speeds from your organization out to the web, you can by using a gigabit Internet provider.

In these scenarios, carriers deliver a large quantity of high-speed to a building. The quantity must be enough so that it can split the circuit and deliver to every tenant. Whatever amount has been guaranteed in each tenant’s contract is the amount they receive.

Redundancy With Charlottesville, Virginia High Speed Organization Internet Circuits

The truth is that circuits can go down in Charlottesville, Virginia even though some carriers offer superior Internet bandwidth products. Ask this question: “what can I do to decrease the likelihood of an outage?

Try using redundant circuits.

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

The first type is when one single carrier provides you with multiple circuits. These redundant circuits help protect from certain failures, for example, router port issues or physical line trouble. However, if that carrier has a regional outage or physical line damaged outside of your building, both circuits may go down. You get some protection, but also some risk.

Bringing in circuits using two distinct providers is the second form of circuit redundancy. 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. If one carrier has a widespread issue, you have a carrier that will still be alive.

The carriers you choose for your redundant circuits should have different physical pathways in Charlottesville, Virginia. This is an important consideration when trying to obtain the most redundancy. In other words, try to obtain circuits entering the building from different sides of the building. The circuits would be established either underground or on telephone poles and would be set up in different directions and lead to different offices. 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.

Not Having Company Class High Speed-Internet Access Protection May Cost You

The cost of dependable Internet access pales in comparison to the cost of unreliable access. Please consider these situations:

You use VoIP for your business telephone service

Is your business on a cable modem? How many other tenants is your carrier servicing in your building? Are 14 other offices getting circuits? 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 the amount of accessible bandwidth decreases, what will happen to your needs? What happens to your phone calls? How will it affect the quality of that telephone call? Are calls lost or dropped? Perhaps you will sound choppy or will be inaudible.

Maybe your company acts as a data center for various other locations

Whether you are a law firm doing file sharing, an accounting practice sharing databases or a retailer operating a distributed point-of-sale system, your office is the hub for your enterprise. Every single one of your offices, stores and places rely on you and your primary Internet connection to retrieve data. Your circuit goes down, now what happens? Is it a mere annoyance or a catastrophic failure? How much work, if any, can be done by your remote locations? What will happen to new orders? Can they be taken or processed? Circulate necessary data? Do you know what your company needs? Be sure to fully understand your requirements. It will help you choose the correct solution. Perhaps you are a software company, running a hosted solution used by hundreds of customers. Maybe you offer a service that allows other systems use an application program interface (API) to talk to you to collect information and data. What will happen when there is a problem connecting to your servers? If you have repeated outages, how long will they remain a customer?

Your call center uses VoIP

Your organization is 100% dependent on the net to properly function. No outbound calls can be made should your circuits go down. Your representatives would also be unable to answer calls. Your company is basically done with. While most call centers that are reputable use redundancy, is it enough? Are you really getting the dependable service you need form your carriers? Are you using carriers that are truly reliable? Is the quality of your calls consistently and reliably clear?

Select the Charlottesville, Virginia High-Speed Organization Access Circuits Best Suited for Your Company

It should be clear by now that you have many different options to select from. Your choices will largely rely on your budget, in addition to the other requirements of your company. To summarize:

Internet Access for the Small Business Owner

You are probably not thinking about redundancy if you have a small business with a single location. In this case, you can probably get by with a single Internet access circuit of 5, 10 or 50 meg. Find out if you are in a lit building. If so, the price of Metro Ethernet or gigabit service may be affordable. Costs vary with location and the availability of circuits so speak with our engineers. Together, we can find the best option for you and your organization.

Medium Sized Company in One Location: Access to the Internet

You will need higher speed access to The web if you have a medium sized company in Charlottesville, Virginia. Gigabit Internet, Metro Ethernet and other higher speed Internet circuits are options to consider. Optimally, multiple providers and multiple circuits will give you the most redundancy. But can you do this without doubling costs? Sometimes, yes. Two 50-megabyte circuits may be more cost effective than a single 100 circuit. To repeat, availability and prices vary. Speaking with one of our experts will help you determine the options available in your specific location.

Internet Access for Mid-Sized Businesses with Several Locations

If your organization has several locations or offices, you are at great risk for failure. They need redundant circuits. Having several providers would afford extra protection. You can decrease risk during downtime by having redundant equipment as well. Here also, examine the Ethernet access services, gigabit Internet and Metro Ethernet providers. Take a careful look at other high-speed Internet access circuit providers before choosing the right one. The correct combination of providers and services can keep your business running smoothly and efficiently.

Bigger corporations, enterprise companies and providers of services that are delivered using Internet

Companies such as these require the following: Metro Ethernet, gigabit Internet and point-to-point (PPP) high-speed Internet circuits. In order to maximize and protect your uptime, you must have redundancy. You should have redundant circuits from multiple carriers in addition to 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. Both your hardware and circuits must be capable of supporting a vast number of simultaneous and fast connections.

You Can Get a Free Internet Need and Demand Analysis

Insufficient bandwidth and failing circuits are present tremendous risk to your company. The right circuits must meet your demand while keeping you within your budget. Choosing the right combination of hardware and circuits can be complicated and confusing.

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

Please click here to complete the contact form on the right side of this page or call our office to schedule an appointment for an assessment. We can often provide assessments within 48 hours.