The Net in Erie: High-Speed Access

Accessing High Speed Internet in Erie: Gigabit Internet, Company Broadband Internet and Metro Ethernet Access

The lifeblood of Erie, Pennsylvania companies doing company in the current environment depends on reliable access to The Internet. All companies, from Fortune 500 to small companies, have functions that rely on easy, dependable and quick Internet access.

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

From email messaging to information sharing, e-commerce to archiving data, and voice over IP to video conferencing, the net is omnipresent. What do you need? Will a cable modem be adequate? Metro Ethernet? Your needs may be met with Gigabit Internet. Does your Erie, Pennsylvania business need a 5 Meg Internet circuit, 10 Meg access to The Internet, a 50 Meg circuit, or a 100 Meg access to The web point?

Access to the web: Determining Your Business’s Needs

Your company must assess its real needs. This must be done before an appropriate service can be chosen. Is the web only used for web surfing and email? Is it used for real-time data connection with cloud servers? You may be hosting the data in Erie and remote places rely on this.

What happens to your business if your high-speed Internet experiences an outage? Will your business suffer from the lull? Is the absence of uptime detrimental? Prior to making any purchases, you must determine the answers to these questions.

Analyzing Assorted High-Speed Internet Solutions in Erie, Pennsylvania

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

• High-speed access to the Internet
• Business Internet / Internet for business
• What about broadband cable modems?
• Metro Ethernet experts
• Gigabit Internet
• Multiprotocol label switching, also known as MPLS
• PPP- or point-to-point protocol
• 5-megabyte access circuits
• 10 megabyte Internet access
• Internet access- 50 megabytes
• We provide 100-megabyte Internet access circuits
• Session Initiation Protocol/ Sip trunk
• dedicated Internet access
• … and more

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

Surfing the Web: Company Internet Access

For many, if not all, companies in Erie, access to The Internet is needed for at least some employees. The net is required for so many things, whether to order items, look up organization information communicate with third parties.

Your best course of action may be determined by the size of your work force. An Internet circuit of 5 -10 megabytes might be enough for your company if you only have a few people working for you. If your business has nearly 50 people, however, and they all need to use the web at the same time, you may find that more is better.

If your employees are merely accessing an intranet system with limited graphics and video, your need for high-speed Internet may be reduced. When they are frequently downloading things, whether documents, graphics or videos, however, speed is necessary for efficient job performance.

Are you performing 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.

Google drive and DropBox are two popular sharing services. Are you using one of these or some other service that allows you to share files? As a file is saved, it is pushed to the cloud and then synced back to other people’s computers. You need to have sufficient bandwidth to support this function while also supporting every other service.

High-speed organization Internet access 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 Erie, Pennsylvania that are already wired by a carrier. The ease and affordability of adding high-speed Internet to your office may surprise you.

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. Did you know that obtaining high-speed access to The net with Metro Ethernet or gigabit Internet can often take 30 days or less? Of course, this depends upon availability.

Online Applications Need High-Speed access to The net

Consider whether your organization hosts its own servers that run APIs, websites and/or data to outside buildings, offices or companies. Is your main company office with a hosted application accessed by 40 or even 50 branch office sites? Perhaps you are in retail and host the point of sale (POS) system for thousands of stores? Does your legal practice host all of the data for 3, 4 or 5 offices in different sites?

When data, programs, or information is hosted centrally, those outside your office must gain access. If the internet connection is interrupted, those people cannot get their work done. When deciding on the right intranet solution for your business, ask yourself: Is the solution going to adequately support simultaneous and multiple connections from my different sites?

A cost friendly 10 Meg circuit or even a cable modem may satisfy the needs of a organization with a single office that needs to surf the web. High-speed dedicated circuits, Metro Ethernet or gigabit Ethernet are advisable for company headquarters. While fast Internet access is and important, they must also have the capability to handle assorted simultaneous connections. A cable modem would likely not provide the necessary support.

Shared Cable Circuits V. Dedicated Internet Bandwidth in Erie, Pennsylvania

In many cases, installing an inexpensive cable modem comes at a price. You may save money on your monthly bill but the bandwidth you get must be shared among many people. During peak hours, your connection may slow down, even though you subscribe to a cable modem with a thirty-megabyte connection. Many cable companies only deliver a set amount of bandwidth within a community. That bandwidth branches off to different buildings and then to various tenants within those buildings. Will you achieve 30-meg speed during the working day? What will the consequences be if you expect 30 but only get half that? What if you get even less?

Other carriers do offer dedicated 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 company. The presence of numerous buildings and tenants should have no effect on your speed. You should receive full capacity of your circuits no matter what the time of day.

For example, Metro Ethernet guarantees bandwidth in 5 met circuits, 10 Meg circuits, 50 and 100 Meg circuits. Gigabit speeds from your office to the internet can be reached if you use 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.

Redundant High Speed Company Internet in Erie: Why More Circuits?

Circuits can go down in Erie, Pennsylvania even though certain providers offer superior Internet bandwidth products. The question then becomes, “how do I minimize my chance of an outage? ”

Try using redundant circuits.

There are two types of redundancy to consider.

The first is where you get multiple circuits from one carrier. When there are problems with a physical line or a port or other failures, it can be helpful to have redundant circuits. If your carrier experiences a regional outage or you have a line broken outside of your building, you may lose the use of all of your circuits. You get some protection, but also some risk.

Utilizing circuits from two different providers is the second kind of redundancy. If you think it is beneficial, you can bind the connections together in a manner that makes your circuits act and look like a single source. In reality, they are completely separate and redundant to each other. This redundancy, referred to as diversity redundancy, offers much greater protection. If one carrier has a problem, the other likely will not.

The carriers you choose for your redundant circuits should have different physical pathways in Erie, Pennsylvania. 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.

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

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

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

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 organization 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 happens to your needs? What happens to your phone calls? How will the caliber of the call be affected? Will calls be arbitrarily dropped? Will you sound muffled or choppy to your customers?

Your office is the main data point for various other offices

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 sites rely on you and your primary Internet connection to retrieve data. If your circuit goes done, what will happen next? Would it annoy you or destroy you? Can meaningful work be conducted at your remote offices? Can they take or process any orders at all? Circulate essential files and data? Choosing the right solution depends largely on assessing and understanding the specific needs of your company. Maybe your software company runs a hosted solution. Maybe that hosted solution is used by hundreds of your customers. Maybe you operate a service that allows other systems to communicate with yours via API. This may be to collect miscellaneous data, calculate prices or shipping prices or other information. What will happen when there is a problem connecting to your servers? How long will your customers tolerate repeated outages?

The telephone system at your call center relies on VoIP

Your organization is 100% reliant on the internet to properly function. No outbound calls can be made should your circuits go down. Your reps have no way of answering calls, if they even know they are coming in. Looks like you are now out of organization. Is redundancy enough? Many of the finest call centers with the best reputations already understand and use redundancy. They should consider if they have sufficient protection. Are you really getting the dependable service you need form your providers? Are you using providers that are truly reliable? Is the quality of service sufficient for your calls to be clear and reliable?

In Erie: Selecting the Proper High-Speed Organization Access Circuits for Your Company

You clearly have several choices. The needs and budget of your organization will both affect your choices. Essentially:

Internet Access and the Small Business

A single fifty, ten or five megabyte Internet access circuit may be sufficient to meet the needs of your small organization, particularly if you have only one location and are not worried about redundancy. Gigabit service and Metro Ethernet options seem expensive. If you are in a lit building, however, they can be less than you think. Look into it. 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 business.

Your Single Location Mid Sized Company Needs Internet Access

You will need higher speed access to The web if you have a medium sized company in Erie, Pennsylvania. You have several choices. Consider the following: Gigabit Internet, Metro Ethernet or higher-speed access to The web circuits. In a perfect world, you will achieve maximum redundancy by utilizing multiple carriers to provide and service different circuits. Achieving this may not be as costly as you first thought. Two 50-megabyte circuits may be more cost effective than a single 100 circuit. As a reminder; availability and costs may vary. Speaking with one of our experts will help you determine the options available in your specific location.

Internet Access and Your Mid-Sized Company: What You Needs

The greatest risk of failure belongs to companies that have multiple places of company or offices. Redundant circuits are a necessity. It is helpful if they use multiple providers. In addition, consider redundant equipment. Redundant routers and switches can minimize risk also. Look at all of your options: Ethernet access services, gigabit Internet providers, Metro Ethernet providers and other high-speed circuit providers. The best mix of providers and services can maximize the productivity and efficiency of your company.

What about enterprise clients and large corporate clients? What about clients who provide services that depend on the net for delivery of said services?

If you can place yourself in this category, it is essential that you have Metro Ethernet, point-to-point circuits and gigabit Internet circuits. Having redundant hardware as well as redundant circuits from different providers will ensure your needed uptime. You must have the bandwidth to withstand sharp increases in usage. Doing so will help protect you from slowdowns or interruptions. 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.

Receive a Free Internet Need and Demand Analysis

The risk of insufficient bandwidth or failing circuits is tremendous. The circuit or circuits you have must stay within the parameters of your budget while still meeting your organization needs. There is tremendous pressure on you to choose the best combination of circuits and hardware.

We have engineers that will analyze your needs, look at your business requirements and develop an action plan for you… for free!We are going to formulate a design or plan based partly on your current usage and demand levels. We are going to create something cost effective that gives you the resources your organization needs, while keeping it running smoothly.

Please complete the contact form by clicking here. You may also call our office to set up an appointment for your assessment. Your assessment may be finished within as little as 48 hours.