High-Speed Access to The Net in Columbus

Business Broadband, Gigabit Internet and Metro Ethernet: Columbus High Speed Internet Access

Today’s environment demands that companies in Columbus, Georgia have reliable Internet service in order to run their business. The company functions of every company, whether it is a small company or on the Fortune 500, from Fortune 500, depends on fast and reliable access to The web.

Our reliance on access to the web will become greater in the near and distant future.

The use of the net is pervasive. We use it for email and data sharing, video chat and VOIP, archiving and commerce. What solution bet fits your needs? Perhaps a cable modem is all you need. Your needs may point to Metro Ethernet as a solution. Gigabit Internet may satisfy your needs. What does your Columbus company need? Does it require 10 Meg Internet access, a 100 Meg access to The web point, a 50 Meg circuit or a 5 Meg circuit?

Defining the Company Need for Internet Access

Your company must assess its real needs. This must be done before an appropriate service can be chosen. Is the internet primarily used for emailing or web surfing? Is the net used for real-time data connection with servers in the cloud? Are you hosting the data in Columbus that remote places rely on?

Have you thought about what happens to your business if your high-speed Internet is interrupted by an outage? What about the downtime that results? Can your business afford that? How much uptime is essential to your organization? These types of questions must be answered before you make purchase anything.

Evaluating Different High-Speed Internet Solutions in Columbus

In the broadest of terms, companies need high-speed Internet access. Deciding on the right broadband internet is not easy. It requires a thorough cost-benefit analysis. While many providers like to spout technical terminologies such as:

• High-speed Internet access service
• Business Internet service
• What about broadband cable modems?
• Metro Ethernet service
• GbE or Gigabit Ethernet
• MPLS protocol
• PPP- or point-to-point protocol
• Internet access circuits-5 Meg
• Ten megabyte Internet access
• Fifty-megabytes-Internet access circuits
• We provide 100-megabyte Internet access circuits
• Session Initiation Protocol/ Sip trunk
• Internet access dedicated to you and only you
• … and that is only a few

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

Web Surfing and Company Internet Access

At most businesses including those in Columbus, Georgia, some or all employees need access to The Internet. Whether it is to communicate with shippers, do research or place orders, Internet access is required.

The number of workers you have may be the factor that drives your decision. If you only have a few workers, you may be fine with a smaller Internet circuit such as a 5 or 10 megabyte. If you have more than that, you may need more.

Do your employees primarily use an intranet system? If so, you may not need much high-speed Internet service. If your business functions demand the downloading of documents and images or videos on a regular basis, speed becomes a must more important issue.

Are you performing routine backups? It is recommended that you do remote backups from every desk. If you are, you will need to support simultaneous connections out to the web to synchronize the backup data to collect.

Are you using Google drive, DropBox or another file sharing service? When you save a file it is pushed to the cloud. Then it is synched to the computer or computers of someone else. Running all your services properly, including sharing files, requires that you have the right amount of bandwidth.

High-speed business access to The web 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 Columbus that are already wired by a carrier. Installing high-speed Internet may not be as difficult and expensive as you think.

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. You can actually get high-speed access with gigabit Internet or even Metro Ethernet quickly. It often takes only 30 days or less, depending on availability.

Maximize Internet-based Applications With High-Speed Internet Access

Does your organization host its own servers to run information feeds, websites or application program interfaces (APIs) with companies or offices located outside of your four walls? Is your main company office with a hosted application accessed by 40 or even 50 branch office sites? Does your office host the point of sale (POS) system for every single store in a large retail chain? You may be a law firm hosting data for three or four different offices.

When data and programs are hosted centrally at one main site, people outside that location must gain access. People can’t work if you have no Internet connection. If you need multiple connections to function at the same time from many different locations, make sure that your intranet solution can reliably support it.

A cable modem or fairly cheap 10-megabyte circuit may be enough in certain scenarios. For example, these may meet the needs of a single office surfing the web. For the headquarters, high-speed access to The web including Metro Ethernet, gigabit Ethernet or other high-speed dedicated circuits is advisable. While fast Internet access is and important, they must also have the capability to handle assorted simultaneous connections. Do you think a cable modem is sufficient? It is probably not.

Cable Circuit Sharing in Columbus Versus Dedicated Bandwidth: What is Right For You?

Utilizing a cable modem or other less expensive circuit may seem like a good option but can result in unexpected cost. Even though you pay less money per month you must consider that the bandwidth you receive may be shared and used by multiple parties in the building. During peak use hours, you may not be able to reach proper speeds. Only a certain amount of bandwidth may be available in a community. Many cable companies have limits on the amount they can deliver. That bandwidth branches off to different buildings and then to various tenants within those buildings. The 30-meg speed you are capped out sounds good but it is possible that you will never reach that speed during company hours. Do you care if you only get 6 when you were set up to expect 30?

You can find a carrier who can provide dedicated and guaranteed bandwidth. In this situation, your bandwidth is not shared but is fully allocated to your business. Regardless of other tenants in your building or neighboring buildings, you should receive the full capacity of your circuit.

For example, Metro Ethernet guarantees bandwidth in 5 met circuits, 10 Meg circuits, 50 and 100 Meg circuits. Want to reach gigabit speeds? You can by using a gigabit Internet provider.

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.

Columbus High Speed Business Internet Circuits: Redundancy

Circuits can go down in Columbus even though certain providers offer superior Internet bandwidth products. How can you lower the chances that you will experience some kind of outage?

You may be a candidate for redundant circuits.

There are, in reality, two kinds of redundancy.

A single carrier, providing multiple circuits, to one customer, characterizes one form of redundancy. When there are problems with a physical line or a port or other failures, it can be helpful to have redundant circuits. Even multiple circuits can fail, such as in the event of a large-scale carrier outage or when there damage to an external line. While there is some protection, there is also some risk.

In the second type of redundancy, you bring in circuits from two different providers. These connections can be bound together so they act and appear to the public as a single circuit. Using particular routers and IP address allocations, no one would be able to tell that you have multiple providers or circuits. In reality, they are completely separate and redundant to each other. Diversity redundancy, as this is called, offers you more protection that you might realize. You will still have a live, fully functioning carrier if one fails.

You want maximum redundancy. In order to achieve this, look for redundant circuits from different providers with different physical geographic pathways in Columbus, Georgia. This means that you should try to have the circuits come into you building from different sides. 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. By doing this, if there is a significant problem such as a fire at a data center, you have redundancy in an alternative physical direction.

What is the Price of Not Having Adequate Protection for Your Business High-Speed Internet access?

The cost of dependable Internet access pales in comparison to the cost of unreliable access. Consider these scenarios:

Your company is reliant on VoIP for phone service

If your business utilizes a cable modem, consider whether your carrier is providing circuits for multiple other tenants within the building. During your working day, those tenants could be conducting massive downloads of information, processing a large amount of calls or streaming endless video. As the amount of accessible bandwidth decreases, what happens to your needs? What happens to your phone calls? What about phone call quality? Will calls be arbitrarily dropped? Inaudible (choppy) to your customers?

Multiple sites use your business as the central data point

Your office is the hub of your enterprise: You might be a law practice that shares files, a retail operation that utilizes POS systems or a large accounting firm that needs to share databases. Your primary Internet connection is solely responsible for smoothly granting access and sending data to all of your locations whether you have two or two thousand. What happens in the event of a circuit failure? Will it cause disastrous results of just annoy you a little bit? Can your satellite or remote office do any work at all? Process new orders? Dispense and receive data? It is important that prior to choosing a solution, you understand the true needs and requirements of your particular organization. Perhaps you have hundreds of clients or customers that use a hosted solution that your software business is running. You operate a service that utilizes API in order to grant access to other systems. They may use this to collect whatever data you are offering such as commodity prices, weather data or freight calculations. What if these other systems have difficulty connecting your servers? How will repeated outages affect your customers? Will they remain customers?

You are a call center and you completely count on VoIP

What if your business could not function at all without the web? Maybe your organization relies on it completely. Your employees or representatives will not be able to make outgoing phone calls if your circuits go down. There would be no way to answer incoming calls of people trying to reach your representatives. Your business is basically done with. While most reputable call centers are already aware and using redundancy, is it enough? Are the carriers that you are using reliable enough? Is the quality of your calls consistently and reliably clear?

Picking the Right High-Speed Organization Access Circuits for Your Columbus, Georgia Company

You have several different options to pick from. Your decision will be based on different factors including your business needs and your budget. In summary:

Your Small Company and Access to the Internet

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 Internet circuit may be sufficient. You may get by with one 50, 10 or even 5 megabyte circuit. For an office in a lit building, you may find that gigabit service or Metro Ethernet are affordable options for you. 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.

Single Location Mid-Sized Business and Internet Access

You have a midsized company in Columbus; you will surely need higher-speed Internet. Your options are Metro Ethernet, gigabit Internet and higher speed circuits. In a perfect world, you will achieve maximum redundancy by utilizing multiple carriers to provide and service different circuits. Achieving this may cost extra but it won’t double your costs. Two smaller circuits may be cheaper than one. For instance, you may use two 50 meg circuits instead of a single 100 meg circuit. Again, costs and availability vary. Call one of our experts to learn what is available in your specific area.

Internet Access for the Medium Sized Company with Multiple Offices

Companies with different places, whether 5 or 50, are at the highest risk. They need redundant circuits. Different providers are desirable. You can increase redundancy with switches or routers. Having redundant equipment can also minimize risk. 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.

Larger corporate clients, enterprise clients and providers of services delivered via the Internet

For companies falling in this category, gigabit Internet circuits, Metro Ethernet Internet circuits and point-to-point high-speed Internet circuits are essential. If you want to ensure your valuable uptime, have redundant circuits from multiple carriers as well as redundant hardware. You do not want any slowdowns or interruptions that often occur during spikes in usage. Avoid this by having sufficient bandwidth. 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

Do you understand how great the risk of failing circuits and insufficient bandwidth really is? It is imperative that the circuit or circuits you choose meet your needs but also keep you within your allowable budget. The pressure involved in selecting the proper mix of hardware and circuits can be overwhelming.

Our expert engineers will review your requirements and needs and create a free action plan for you. Our experts will examine your current usage and demand. We’ll then generate a design that gives you the resources you need while keeping your business up and running at a reasonable cost.

If you would like to arrange for an assessment, please click here to complete the contact information form to the right. You can call our office as well. Assessments are completed in as little as 48 hours.