Crystal Lake, Illinois High-Speed Internet Access

Crystal Lake High Speed access to The Internet: Company Broadband Internet, Metro Ethernet Access and Gigabit Internet

Because of today’s environment, companies in Crystal Lake depend on the net. Reliable access to the web is the lifeblood of their organization. All companies, big and small, need fast and reliable Internet access.

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

Our uses of the net reach far and wide. From data sharing, video calls, and shopping to VOIP and email, the internet has a broad presence. What is the best solution for you? Perhaps a cable modem is all you need. Your needs may point to Metro Ethernet as a solution. You may need Gigabit Internet. Will your Crystal Lake company needs be met with a 50 Meg circuit, a 5 Meg circuit, 10 Meg Internet access or 100 Meg Internet access point?

Defining the Organization Need for Internet Access

The needs of your particular business must be determined before you can select an appropriate service. Why will you need the net? Will you only be web surfing and emailing? Will real-time data connection with servers in the cloud be the primary use of the net? Perhaps you, in Crystal Lake, Illinois, are hosting the data and remote sites rely upon this.

What happens if you have an outage in your high-speed Internet? How might the downtime cause problems for your company? Is the absence of uptime detrimental? Before you buy anything, you must answer these questions.

High-Speed Internet in Crystal Lake, Illinois: Explaining Different Solutions

In the broadest of terms, companies need high-speed access to The Internet. An analysis of the costs and benefits should be done prior to choosing the broadband that is correct for your company. Don’t be distracted by terminology. While you may hear providers throw out words and phrases like:

• Fast Internet access is for you!
• Internet for businesses or Internet corporations
• Broadband cable modems are our specialty
• Metro Ethernet
• Provider of Gigabit Internet service
• MPLS services
• Services related to point-to-point circuits
• 5 Meg Internet access
• Internet access circuits- ten megabytes
• We provide access to The net circuits-50 Meg
• Internet access circuits- One hundred Meg
• Sip trunking specialists
• Internet access dedicated to you and only you
• … and more

… the real issue is understanding what capability and technical solutions best meet your needs.

Business access to The net for Web Surfing

Workers for most companies in Crystal Lake have some need to access the net during the course of their job. Whether it is to talk to shippers, do research or place orders, Internet access is required.

The number of employees you have may determine your best solution. If you have a smaller workforce, you may do fine with a smaller Internet circuit. For example, if you only employ a handful of people, a 5 or 10 Meg circuit may meet your needs. If you have 50 employees who are using the net simultaneously, you may need more.

High-speed Internet may become less important if the majority of your employees primarily use an intranet system with limited graphics and video. On the other hand, Internet speed becomes dramatically more important when they are required to regularly download things like documents or videos.

Do you backup information? When you do remote backups from every workstation, which you should, you must support multiple and simultaneous connections to the web in order to sync your backup data.

Do you use a file sharing 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. In order to ensure that all of your functions work properly, in addition to file sharing, you must have sufficient bandwidth.

High-speed company access to The web like Metro Ethernet and gigabit Internet may be viable options for you depending on your location. They are commonly found in “lit buildings” in Crystal Lake, Illinois that have already been wired by a carrier. Choosing to add high-speed Internet to your office is a tough decision but it can be less expensive and easier than you think.

The introduction of Metro Ethernet into a new building can be quite costly. However, bringing that connection into office space within that building is usually less so. Also, securing high-speed access to The web using gigabit Internet or Metro Ethernet often takes less than 30 days, depending on its availability.

Maximize Internet-based Applications With High-Speed Internet Access

Ask yourself this: Does we host our own servers to run APIs, websites and data feeds to external offices or company premises? Is your main business 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? Are you a law firm hosting data for multiple office locations?

Access to data and programs by people outside of your main location becomes necessary when you host information centrally. If the web connection is interrupted or fails, those people are unable to accomplish any 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.

If you have one office using the web, you may get by with a cable modem or a low- cost 10-megabyte circuit. Metro Ethernet, gigabit Ethernet or other high-speed dedicated circuits is advisable for the headquarters where high-speed Internet access is important. Multiple diverse connections require support, in addition to high speed. Do you think a cable modem is sufficient? It is probably not.

Dedicated Internet Bandwidth in Crystal Lake V. Shared Cable Circuits

Bringing in a less-expensive circuit like a cable modem often comes with a price. You may have to share bandwidth in order to secure that low monthly rate. 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. Buildings, offices and tenants within the buildings all must share that amount of bandwidth, whatever it may be. The 30-meg speed you are capped out sounds good but it is possible that you will never reach that speed during company hours. What will the consequences be if you expect 30 but only get half that? What if you get even less?

Some carriers are available who offer dedicated bandwidth and guaranteed bandwidth. With these, bandwidth belongs to you and your organization only; no sharing. 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, with Metro Ethernet, you can receive a guaranteed bandwidth in increments of five Meg circuits, 10 Meg circuits, 50 Meg circuits and 100 Meg circuits. If you want to reach gigabit speeds from your business out to the web, you can by using a gigabit Internet provider.

The providers in this situation deliver high-speed to a particular building in sufficient quantity to split their circuit among various tenants. Of course, they must ensure that they each get the specific amount of their contracted speed.

Redundant High Speed Business Internet Circuits in Crystal Lake

While certain providers offer superior Internet bandwidth products in Crystal Lake, Illinois, the reality is that it is possible for a circuit to go down. You must ask yourself: “how do I lessen the chance of an outage? ”

Redundant circuits.

There are two types of redundancy to consider.

With the first kind, you receive several circuits but they all come from the same carrier. In this situation, the redundancy helps protect you from port issues or physical line issues. 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. This is not foolproof, but does offer some protection.

Bringing in circuits using two distinct providers is the second form of circuit redundancy. For users and the public, you can make it look like you have one cohesive circuit. You can also make the connections act as a single circuit. You can do this with various advanced routers and IP address allocations. In fact, they are totally redundant and separate. Diversity redundancy provides greater assurance, comfort and protection. Should one carrier have some trouble that extends to a greater area and is out of your control, you are backed up with a different carrier.

To maximize the benefit of redundancy, consider looking for redundant circuits from different providers that have different pathway in Crystal Lake. In other words, try to obtain circuits entering the building from different sides of the building. The circuits would be attached to telephone poles (or underground conduits) in different directions leading to different data centers or central offices. 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 is the Price of Not Having Adequate Protection for Your Business High-Speed Internet access?

Although access to The net comes at a price, the price of unreliable Internet access is tremendous. Think about the following situations:

Your office depends upon Voice-over Internet Protocol (VoIP) for its phone service

If your company utilizes a cable modem, consider whether your carrier is providing circuits for multiple other tenants within the building. Between 9 and 5, any of those other offices could be downloading huge files, streaming video or taking large volume of phone calls and more. As available bandwidth shrinks, what will happen to your calls? What about the quality of your calls? Will calls be cut-off? Will you sound muffled or choppy to your customers?

Is your organization the central data location for multiple offices?

Regardless of whether you are part of a legal practice and your firm does file sharing, or an accounting practice sharing databases, your office is the central point or hub of your organization. All of your sites, you may have 2, you may have 500, you may have 4, 000, count on your main Internet connection to access and receive data. If your circuit goes done, what will happen next? Is it just irritating? Is it going to cause tremendous problems? Is work even possible at your other locations? Can they process transactions or new orders? Share information? Be sure you understand your requirements fully before choosing a solution. Perhaps you are a software company, running a hosted solution used by hundreds of customers. 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? Customers do not enjoy repeated outages. How long with they put up with them before looking to take their organization elsewhere?

The phones in your office, which functions as a call center, relies entirely on voice-over Internet protocol (VoIP)

Your business is 100% reliant on the net to properly function. Your employees or representatives will not be able to make outgoing phone calls if your circuits go down. In addition, they will be unable to answer incoming calls. You are essentially out of business. For competent call centers that already use and understand the problems that can arise, is redundancy enough? Are the providers you currently use as reliable as they should be? Are they as reliable as you need them to be? Are you getting quality service so that your calls are clear and consistent?

Picking the Right High-Speed Organization Access Circuits for Your Company in Crystal Lake, Illinois

Clearly, there are many choices. Your company needs and budgets will drive your decisions. To summarize:

Internet Access Needs for Small Organization

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. Is your building lit? If so, find out about gigabit or Metro Ethernet services. They may be reasonably priced options. 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.

Mid-Sized Businesses access to The web – One Location

You have a midsized company in Crystal Lake; you will surely need higher-speed Internet. Your options are Metro Ethernet, gigabit Internet and higher speed circuits. Using different circuits and different providers will, if you choose, provide you with redundancy. This may be attainable without doubling your costs. For example, choosing two 50 meg circuits versus one 100 meg circuit. Again, costs and availability vary. You need to speak with one of our experts to determine your options in your specific location.

Midsized Businesses with Multiple Sites: Internet Access

Businesses with many places face the greatest risk for failure. Redundancy is extremely crucial to them. Different providers are desirable. Also, redundant equipment such as switches and routers in your facility can minimize the risk of downtime. Before you make a decision here too, do your research. Look closely into Ethernet access services, Metro Ethernet providers, gigabit Internet providers and other high-speed circuit providers. The best mix of carriers and services can maximize the productivity and efficiency of your company.

Larger corporations, enterprising clients and clients who provide services that are 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. You will want to have the greatest protection of your uptime. To accomplish this you must have redundancy: redundant circuits from multiple providers and redundant hardware for your system. 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. Your circuits and hardware must be able to support a large number of fast and simultaneous connections.

You May Receive an Internet Need and Internet Demand Analysis for Free

Do you understand how great the risk of failing circuits and insufficient bandwidth really is? Your demand and budget constraints should both be considered when you decide what circuit or combination of circuits you must have. The pressure involved in selecting the proper mix of hardware and circuits can be overwhelming.

We have engineers that will analyze your needs, look at your company requirements and develop an action plan for you… for free!You want your business to run smoothly. We will look at your current usage levels and demand levels and design a plan that meets your needs at a cost that makes sense for you.

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