The Web in Des Moines: High-Speed Access

Accessing High Speed Internet in Des Moines, Iowa: Gigabit Internet, Company Broadband and Metro Ethernet Access

Reliable access to The Internet is the lifeblood of Des Moines companies and their organization. Fast and reliable access to The net is needed for businesses to function properly; large corporations and small companies alike.

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

Our uses of the internet reach far and wide. From data sharing, video calls, and shopping to VOIP and email, the web has a broad presence. What can best meet your needs? A cable modem may be satisfactory. Is Metro Ethernet necessary? Your needs may be met with Gigabit Internet. What does your Des Moines, Iowa company need? Does it require 10 Meg Internet access, a 100 Meg access to The Internet point, a 50 Meg circuit or a 5 Meg circuit?

Internet Access: Defining the Organization Need

Before selecting the appropriate service, your organization must assess its needs. Perhaps the web is only used for a few things such as email communication or surfing the web. Will Internet usage mainly involve cloud servers and real time data connection? You may be hosting the data in Des Moines, Iowa and remote sites rely on this.

What happens if you have an outage in your high-speed Internet? Will your business suffer from the lull? Is the absence of uptime detrimental? Before making a purchase, these are several of the questions that you must answer.

High-Speed Internet in Des Moines, Iowa: Explaining Different Solutions

In the broadest of terms, companies need high-speed Internet access. An analysis of the costs and benefits should be done prior to choosing the broadband internet that is correct for your organization. Many service providers toss out terms such as:

• High-speed access to The net service
• Business Internet / Internet for business
• broadband cable modems
• Metro Ethernet
• GbE services or Gigabit Internet
• MPLS network
• Providers of point-to-point circuits
• Internet access circuits-five megabyte
• Internet access circuits- ten megabytes
• Internet access- 50 megabytes
• 100 Meg access to The net circuits
• Sip trunking providers
• Personal, specific and dedicated 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?

Business access to The web for Surfing the Worldwide Web

At most businesses including those in Des Moines, some or all employees need Internet access. The web is required for so many things, whether to order items, look up business information talk to third parties.

The best solution may rely upon how many employees you have. 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 a larger workforce, you may want to consider more. This is especially true if they all need to use the internet simultaneously.

Perhaps most workers at your company use an intranet system with limited features. High- speed Internet may not be a priority in this case. If your organization 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? 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.

Does your company require employees to share files using a service like Google drive or DropBox? This is how a file sharing service works: You save a file. Then the file is pushed to the cloud, and is then synchronized with other people’s computers. You must have sufficient bandwidth if you are to successfully support every service including file sharing.

Depending on your location, high-speed business Internet access, including Metro Ethernet and gigabit Internet may be viable options. These are typically found in “lit buildings” in Des Moines, Iowa. Carriers have already wired these buildings. You may be surprised by how easy and affordable it is to add high-speed Internet to your company.

If you have to bring Metro Ethernet into a new building, it can be expensive but bringing that connection to an office or suite within the building is usually not. In fact, obtaining high-speed Internet access with Metro Ethernet or gigabit Internet can often take 30 days or less depending upon availability.

Web Applications: They Require High-Speed Internet Access

Your company may host its own servers. Do they run websites APIs or data feeds for external offices? Do your headquarters have a hosted Internet application that must be accessed regularly by 40 or 50 branch offices? Does your office host the point of sale (POS) system for every single store in a large retail chain? Are you a law firm? Do you host data for three or more external locations?

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 organization. If the internet connection is interrupted or fails, those people are unable to accomplish any work. Can your intranet solution support your needs? Can it support multiple simultaneous connections? Is it stable enough to handle this when they are from various sites?

If you have one office using the web, you may get by with a cable modem or a low- cost 10-megabyte circuit. For headquarters, Metro Ethernet, gigabit Ethernet or other high-speed Internet dedicated circuits is advisable. High speed is important but they also must be able to support multiple distinct connections. A cable modem would probably not be enough.

Dedicated Bandwidth Versus Des Moines Shared Cable Circuits

Utilizing a cable modem or other less expensive circuit may seem like a good option but can result in unexpected cost. While the monthly rate is lower, the bandwidth is generally shared among other 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. Whatever that amount of bandwidth is, it branches into all buildings in the community and to all tenants in those buildings. While you may be capped at thirty-megabyte speed, will you ever reach that speed during organization hours? Is getting 7 when you expect 30 a problem?

Some providers are available who offer dedicated bandwidth and guaranteed bandwidth. In this situation, you do not have to share bandwidth. The bandwidth is all yours and is fully allocated to the needs of your organization. Regardless of other tenants in your building or neighboring buildings, you should receive the full capacity of your circuit.

Five Meg, ten Meg, fifty Meg and 100 Meg circuits of guaranteed bandwidth are available with Metro Ethernet. In your office out to the net you can reach gigabit speeds with gigabit providers

In these situations, each tenant receives their contracted high-speed. The carrier delivers enough so they can split their circuit and provide enough to each tenant.

Backup With Des Moines High Speed Business Internet Circuits

Despite outstanding Internet bandwidth products offered by carriers in Des Moines, Iowa, circuits do go down. In what way can you diminish the risk of an outage?

Consider redundant circuits.

There are two types of redundancy to consider.

A single carrier, providing multiple circuits, to one customer, characterizes one form of redundancy. 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. Damage to an external wire or part can cause the failure of all of your circuits. A regional outage experienced by your carrier can have the same result. This offers some protection and assurance but does not eliminate all threats.

The other type of redundancy requires you to utilize circuits from different carriers. Advanced routers and IP address allocations can be utilized to make it look to your users and the public that you have a single circuit. Truthfully, they are entirely separate. They are redundant and exist in case one of them fails. You will get more substantial protection from this diversity redundancy. 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.

You want maximum redundancy. In order to achieve this, look for redundant circuits from different carriers with different physical geographic pathways in Des Moines. This means that you should try to have the circuits come into you building from different sides. The circuits would be attached underground or to telephone poles, in various directions. The circuits would go to different data centers or central offices. In this way you have redundancy in different physical directions. If there is an event that causes a regional circuit problem, you have an alternative that is unaffected.

What Will Not Having Enough Protection for Your Company Class High Speed Internet Cost You?

Even though access to The net comes with a cost, you will save money if you make sure it is dependable. Unreliable access will end up costing you more in the long run. Please consider these situations:

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

You are on a cable modem with the carrier providing circuits to 14 other tenants in your building. Any of these tenants may be taking many calls, conducting huge downloads or streaming video during your regular office hours. How will less available bandwidth affect your telephone calls? What about the quality of your calls? Maybe calls will randomly drop? Will the calls be choppy?

Your office is the main data point for various other offices

Your office is the hub of your company, whether you are a retail organization operating a distributed point of sale (POS) system, an accounting firm sharing databases or a law firm engaged in file sharing. All of your offices, whether you have 3 or 3, 000, rely on your primary Internet connection to successfully access data. What will happen in the event of a circuit failure? Is it simply an irritation or a catastrophe? How much work, if any, can be done by your remote places? Can they process transactions or new orders? Circulate essential files and data? Be sure you understand your requirements fully before choosing a solution. You might have hundreds and hundreds of loyal customers. Perhaps you are a software company running a hosted solution they all depend on. Is an API utilized in your business so that your customers can access and talk to your system? What if you have server problems and they are unable to connect to you? Customers will only take so many repeated outages. How long with they remain with your company?

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

Maybe your business depends entirely on the web. What if your representatives can make no outgoing telephone calls because your circuits go down? No calls could be answered either. Basically, you are done. For competent call centers that already use and understand the problems that can arise, is redundancy enough? Make sure your providers are as reliable as possible. Is the quality of service sufficient? Are your calls clear and reliable?

The Correct High-Speed Business Access Circuits for Your Des Moines, Iowa Company: How to Choose

You clearly have many options. Your decision will be based on different factors including your business needs and your budget. As a high-level summary:

Internet Access Needs for Small Business

If you have one location or office and do not feel the need to consider redundancy for your system, a smaller Internet access circuit may be all you need. A single fifty, ten or five megabyte circuit might be enough. Metro Ethernet service or gigabit service may also be a reasonably priced option if you are in a lit building. Prices vary based on your location and availability of circuits; speak with our engineers to find your best option.

Internet Access for the Mid-Sized Organization with One Location

You will need higher speed access to The web if you have a medium sized organization in Des Moines. Higher-speed circuits like Metro Ethernet, gigabit Internet or others may be your best options. Optimally, multiple carriers and multiple circuits will give you the most redundancy. You may be able to achieve this in a manner that will not break the bank. For example, choosing two 50 meg circuits versus one 100 meg circuit. Do not forget that you will find variations in price and availability. 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

Any company with more than one location suffers the greatest risk of problems. Redundancy is crucial. Different carriers are desirable. Redundant routers, switches and other equipment can also be helpful to lessen downtime during a problem. Here too, 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. The correct combination of providers and services can keep your business running smoothly and efficiently.

Providers of services that rely on the internet for their delivery, big corporate clients and enterprise customers

Gigabit Internet circuits, point-to-point high-speed Internet circuits are essential and Metro Ethernet Internet circuits must be utilized by companies in any of these categories. 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 organization. You must provide enough bandwidth to avoid these pitfalls that sometimes occur during sudden usage spikes. It is crucial that not only your circuits have the ability to support a vast number of multiple and simultaneous connects, but your hardware must have the ability to support them as well.

Internet Demand and Internet Need: Receive Free Analysis

Your company faces great risk of less than adequate bandwidth and failing circuits. The circuit or circuits you have must stay within the parameters of your budget while still meeting your business needs. It is essential to choose the correct mix of hardware and circuits. Figuring out exactly what to put in the mix, can be a daunting task.

Our engineers can analyze your needs and create a free action plan for you. Our experts will examine your current usage and demand. We are going to then generate a design that gives you the resources you need while keeping your company up and running at a reasonable cost.

Please call our office for an assessment appointment or click here to complete the contact form on the right side of the page. It can take as little as 48 hours to provide a complete assessment.