Obtaining High-Speed Access To The Internet in Hoover, Alabama

Hoover, Alabama High Speed access to The Net: Organization Broadband, Metro Ethernet Access and Gigabit Internet

Today’s environment demands that companies in Hoover, Alabama have reliable Internet service in order to run their organization. All companies, from Fortune 500 to small companies, have functions that rely on easy, dependable and quick Internet access.

We will become increasingly dependent on Internet access as the months and years progress.

Our uses of the internet 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? A cable modem may be satisfactory. It could be that you need Metro Ethernet. Is Gigabit Internet right for you? Does your Hoover, Alabama business need a 5 Meg Internet circuit, 10 Meg Internet access, a 50 Meg circuit, or a 100 Meg access to The Internet point?

Internet Access: Defining the Organization Need

Your organization must assess its real needs. This must be done before an appropriate service can be chosen. Perhaps the web is only used for a few things such as email communication or surfing the web. Will real-time data connection with servers in the cloud be the primary use of the web? Do remote locations count on you hosting the data in Hoover?

What if you have a disruption in your high-speed Internet? What about the downtime that results? Can your organization afford that? Is uptime essential to the success of your business? Before buying, these are several of the questions that you must answer.

High-Speed Internet in Hoover: Explaining Different Solutions

In the broadest of terms, companies need high-speed access to The web. Before you choose your broadband, look at the costs and benefits. Performing this analysis is an important step in picking the right one for your organization. Don’t be distracted by terminology. While you may hear service providers throw out words and phrases like:

• Fastest Internet access
• Internet for companies or Internet corporations
• Provider of broadband cable modems
• Metro Ethernet
• Provider of Gigabit Internet service
• MPLS services
• PPP- or point-to-point protocol
• five Meg Internet access circuits
• Ten megabyte access to The web provided
• Internet access- 50 megabytes
• Internet access circuits- One hundred megabytes
• sip trunking / sip trunks
• Dedicated or “specific” Internet access
• … and so many more

… do not stray from the real issues. Focus on what your company’s needs are and what capabilities and technical solutions will help satisfy them.

Business access to The web for Surfing the Worldwide Web

Companies in Hoover, Alabama need access to the net for their employees. Some companies may need it only for a few people and others may need it for the entire workforce. Third party applications, organization research or development and e-commerce are just some of the ways the net may be needed.

The number of workers you have may be the factor that drives your decision. A five or ten megabyte Internet circuit may be all you need if employ a small workforce. You may need more if you have more workers and those workers all need to be on the net during the same hours.

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, when they are frequently downloading documents, images and videos, that need for speed increases drastically.

Do you routinely backup? 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.

Are you using Google drive, DropBox or another file sharing service? As a file is saved, it is pushed to the cloud and then synced back to other people’s computers. The right amount of capacity or bandwidth is necessary to support this function in conjunction with every other service you have.

Are you interested in high-speed company Internet? Depending on where you are located, you may want to look into the viability of gigabit Internet and Metro Ethernet. They are almost always found in “lit buildings” in Hoover, Alabama that are already 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.

Introducing Metro Ethernet to a new building can be expensive. Bringing a connection to a suite within the building is not. In fact, in as little as 30 days, you may be able to obtain high-speed access to the internet with either gigabit Internet or Metro Ethernet. It depends upon availability.

Web Applications: They Require 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? Are your corporate headquarters with a hosted application utilized by 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 hosting data for multiple office sites?

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 business. People can’t work if you have no Internet connection. Make sure that when you choose your intranet solution it is reliable enough to support your need for multiple and simultaneous connections for many 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. It is advisable that high-speed Internet access be available at the central company office or headquarters, including gigabit Ethernet, Metro Ethernet or some other high-speed dedicated circuits. All offer quick speed but they must also be able to support diverse and multiple connections. A cable modem would likely not provide the necessary support.

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

In many scenarios, bringing in an inexpensive circuit, such as a cable modem, comes at a price. Your low monthly bill may mean that the bandwidth is shared among multiple tenants. During peak hours, your connection may slow down, even though you subscribe to a cable modem with a thirty-megabyte connection. Often, within a given community, cable companies may only deliver a particular amount of bandwidth. Whatever that amount of bandwidth is, it branches into all buildings in the community and to all tenants in those buildings. During crucial working hours, you may not get to the 30-meg speed you have been capped at. Is it a problem if you get a quarter or even half of the speed you expected?

Some providers offer customers 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 business. Regardless of neighbors, or other tenants, you should have the full capacity of your circuit at all times.

With Metro Ethernet, for example, you can receive a guaranteed bandwidth in various increments including 5 and 10 Meg circuits, and 50 and 100 Meg circuits. With gigabit Internet providers, you can reach gigabit speeds in your office out to the web.

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.

Redundancy With Hoover High Speed Company Internet Circuits

Despite outstanding Internet bandwidth products offered by providers in Hoover, Alabama, circuits do go down. The question then becomes, “how do I minimize my chance of an outage? ”

Try using redundant circuits.

Redundancy basically comes in two forms.

With the first type of redundancy, you receive multiple circuits from the same carrier. When there are problems with a physical line or a port or other failures, it can be helpful to have redundant circuits. 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. While offering some protection, it is not without risk.

Circuit redundancy can also be achieved in the following way: Import circuits using two different and distinct providers. 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. While circuit redundancy in general is a good idea, diversity redundancy by using different providers, offers far better protection. If one carrier has a problem, the other likely will not.

If you want to maximize redundancy in Hoover, Alabama please consider the following question: Do the providers I am considering use the same physical geographic pathways? Your goal should be to get circuits coming into your building on different sides. You do not want them on the same side. The circuits would be attached underground or to telephone poles, in various directions. The circuits would go to different data centers or central offices. What if there is some kind of catastrophic incident such as a fire or accident that impacts circuits within a region? Now, you have redundancy in an alternative physical direction.

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

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

Your company is reliant on VoIP for phone service

Your company is on a cable modem and your carrier provides circuits to 20 other offices in your 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 the amount of available bandwidth diminishes, what happens to your phone calls? How will the quality of that phone call be affected? Will calls be cut-off? Perhaps you will sound choppy or will be inaudible.

Your organization functions as the primary data center for multiple external locations

You may be an accounting firm that shares databases, a retail chain company utilizing a point of sale system or a law practice sharing files. Regardless of the specifics, your office is the hub for your enterprise. Whether you have 2 places, 250, or 2000, they all rely on your primary Internet connection to retrieve data and information. What happens if your circuit crashes? Would it cause mere annoyance or utter disaster? Are your other offices able to do any work? Process or take new orders? Disseminate needed information and data? Before choosing a solution, be sure to assess and really understand what your organization requires. Perhaps you are a software company, running a hosted solution used by hundreds of customers. Perhaps you operate a service where other systems communicate with yours via an API to calculate freight rates, commodity prices, collect current weather data or receive any other information that you serve up. It is possible they will not be able to connect to your servers. Multiple outages may annoy your customers.

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

Does your company completely rely on the web? 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. Looks like you are now out of organization. For competent call centers that already use and understand the problems that can arise, is redundancy enough? Are your current providers as dependable as you would like? Is the quality of service sufficient? Are your calls clear and reliable?

Choosing the Right Hoover, Alabama High-Speed Organization Access Circuits for Your Company

Obviously, there are a variety of choices. Your company budget and needs will play a large part in your decision-making. 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. Is your building lit? If so, find out about gigabit or Metro Ethernet services. They may be reasonably priced options. The availability of circuits and your location determine prices; speak with one of our engineers to learn what your best options are.

Your Single Location Mid Sized Company Needs Internet Access

You will need higher speed Internet access if you have a medium sized organization in Hoover, Alabama. Metro Ethernet, gigabit Internet and other higher-speed Internet circuits are your options. Using different circuits and different carriers will, if you choose, provide you with redundancy. Achieving this may cost extra but it won’t double your costs. For example, one 100-megabyte circuit may cost more than two smaller 50-megabyte circuits. Again, costs and availability vary. 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.

Midsized Businesses with Multiple Sites: Internet Access

Any company with more than one location suffers the greatest risk of problems. Redundancy is extremely crucial to them. Different providers are desirable. Additionally, you should consider redundant equipment (routers and switches) in your facility to 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 right combination of services and providers can positively impact the efficiency of your business.

What about enterprise clients and large corporate clients? What about clients who provide services that depend on the internet 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. Spikes or sudden increase in usage can result in Internet slowdowns or disruptions in service. You can decrease the risk of these events by having sufficient bandwidth. 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.

Free Internet Demand and Need Analysis

There is great risk of failing circuits or insufficient bandwidth. The right circuits must meet your demand while keeping you within your budget. The pressure involved in selecting the proper mix of hardware and circuits can be overwhelming.

We have experts to help. Our engineers will do an analysis of your needs and requirements, and develop a free action plan for you based on their findings. We will look at your current usage, demand levels and scope out a design to give you the resources you need while keeping your business 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.