Lafayette High-Speed Access To The Net

Access to High Speed Internet in Lafayette, Louisiana: Metro Ethernet Access, Organization Broadband Internet and Gigabit Internet

In today’s world, Lafayette, Louisiana companies need dependable Internet access. It is the lifeblood of their organization. All companies, large and small, need fast and reliable access to The Internet.

We’ll become increasingly reliant on Internet access as the months and years progress.

From email messaging to information sharing, e-commerce to archiving data, and voice over IP to video conferencing, the web is omnipresent. What can best meet your needs? Maybe a cable modem is a sufficient solution. Do you need Metro Ethernet? You may need Gigabit Internet. Does your Lafayette company need a 5 Meg Internet circuit, 10 Meg Internet access, a 50 Meg circuit, or a 100 Meg Internet access point?

Defining the Business Need for Internet Access

You must, before selecting a service, assess the actual needs of your company. Perhaps the internet is only used for a few things such as email communication or surfing the web. Is connecting with cloud servers and sharing real time data the main use of the internet? There may be remote places that rely on you and you are hosting the data in Lafayette, Louisiana.

How would an outage to your high-speed Internet affect your business? Can your company afford the downtime? Is uptime required? You must answer questions like these so you can make a purchase that actually meets your needs

Evaluating Different High-Speed Internet Solutions in Lafayette, Louisiana

High-speed Internet access is required by all businesses. Before you choose your broadband internet, look at the costs and benefits. Performing this analysis is an important step in picking the right one for your company. You will hear service providers use terms like:

• High-speed Internet access
• Business Internet service
• Provider of broadband cable modems
• Provider of Metro Ethernet
• GbE or Gigabit Ethernet
• MPLS services
• Point-to-point circuit services
• Internet access circuits-five megabyte
• 10 Meg Internet access circuits
• Internet access- 50 megabytes
• One hundred megabytes- fast access to The net circuits
• Sip trunking providers
• Personal, specific and dedicated Internet access
• … and 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.

Surfing the Web at Work: Company Internet Access

Workers for most companies in Lafayette have some need to access the internet during the course of their job. Third party applications, business research or development and e-commerce are just some of the ways the web may be needed.

The number of employees you have may determine your best solution. A five or ten megabyte Internet circuit may be all you need if employ a small workforce. If you have 50 employees who are using the internet simultaneously, you may need more.

Your workforce may simply use an intranet system with limited video and graphics. If this is true, your need for high speed Internet be less than you thought. 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? If, as recommended, you conduct remote backups from every single desk, you will need to support simultaneous connections out to the web. This will allow you to sync 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? After a file is saved, it goes to the cloud and then to someone else’s computer. You must have sufficient bandwidth if you are to successfully support every service including file sharing.

Your organization location may cause you to think about high-speed organization Internet access such as Metro Ethernet and/or gigabit Internet. They are usually contained in “lit buildings” in Lafayette, Louisiana that have already been wired by a carrier. You may be surprised by how easy and affordable it is to add high-speed Internet to your company.

Unless you are bringing Metro Ethernet into a new building, it does not have to be an expensive proposition to connect it to a suite within a building. Metro Ethernet or gigabit Internet may provide you with high-speed access to The web in thirty days or less, depending on availability.

High-Speed access to The net Required for Hosting Applications

Your organization may host its own servers. Do they run websites APIs or data feeds for external offices? Is your main business office with a hosted application accessed by 40 or even 50 branch office sites? Are you hosting the point of sale (POS) system for 15, 000 retail chain stores? Does your legal practice host all of the data for 3, 4 or 5 offices in different sites?

When things are hosted at a central point, parties outside the office must somehow gain access. Those people are not able to do their work if the internet connection fails or is unreliable. 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.

For a single office surfing the web, a cable modem or inexpensive 10 Meg circuit may be sufficient. Metro Ethernet, gigabit Ethernet or other high-speed dedicated circuits is advisable for the headquarters where high-speed Internet access is important. While high speed is great, you also need support for your multiple diverse connections. The support you need could not be provided by a cable modem.

Dedicated Bandwidth Versus Lafayette, Louisiana Shared Cable Circuits

Bringing in a less-expensive circuit like a cable modem often comes with a price. There may be a lower monthly rate, but bandwidth is usually shared with many tenants. While you may subscribe to a cable modem with a 30 Meg connection, you may be unable to reach those speeds during peak hours. Only a certain amount of bandwidth may be available in a community. Many cable companies have limits on the amount they can deliver. Different buildings and tenants housed or working within those buildings all share that set amount of bandwidth. You might be capped at 30-megabyte speed, but may never be able to actually reach that speed during the important hours of your company day. What will the consequences be if you expect 30 but only get half that? What if you get even less?

Some providers offer customers dedicated and guaranteed bandwidth. In this case, your business receives full allocation of bandwidth. There is no sharing with any outsiders. No matter who is in the building or what buildings surround you, you should always run at full speed.

Metro Ethernet provides guaranteed bandwidth in increments as follows: 5, 10, 50 and 100 Meg circuits. Want to reach gigabit speeds? You can by using a gigabit Internet provider.

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.

Incorporating Redundancy Into Your High Speed Organization Internet Circuits in Lafayette

Realistically, while some providers in Lafayette, Louisiana offer excellent Internet bandwidth products, it is possible for a circuit to go down. The question then becomes, “how do I minimize my chance of an outage? ”

Try using redundant circuits.

There are, in reality, two kinds of redundancy.

The first is where you get multiple circuits from one carrier. 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. However, if that carrier has a regional outage or physical line damaged outside of your building, both circuits may go down. While there is some protection, there is also some risk.

Circuit redundancy can also be achieved in the following way: Import circuits using two different and distinct carriers. You may want your circuits to appear and act as if they are one and come from the same source. If so you can use IP address allocations and advanced routers to do so. Though they may appear as one, you know that they are each individual circuits and redundant to each other. You will get more substantial protection from this diversity redundancy. If one carrier has a widespread issue, you have a carrier that will still be alive.

You want maximum redundancy. In order to achieve this, look for redundant circuits from different carriers with different physical geographic pathways in Lafayette, Louisiana. Essentially, this just means that you do not want both of your circuits to enter the building on the same side. They should come in on different sides. Whether they are attached underground or to a telephone pole, your goal should be to have the circuits in different directions leading to different central locations. 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 Are the Costs Associated With Not Adequately Protecting Your Company High-Speed access to The web?

The cost of dependable Internet access pales in comparison to the cost of unreliable access. Please think about the following scenarios:

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. During your working day, those tenants could be conducting massive downloads of information, processing a large amount of calls or streaming endless video. As available bandwidth shrinks, what will happen to your calls? How will the caliber of the call be affected? Will you lose calls? Inaudible (choppy) to your customers?

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

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. Every single one of your offices, stores and places rely on you and your primary Internet connection to retrieve data. What if your circuit fails? Would it annoy you or destroy you? Are your other offices able to do any work? Can they process transactions or new orders? Circulate necessary data? It is important that prior to choosing a solution, you understand the true needs and requirements of your particular business. What if you are a software company? Perhaps you are running a hosted solution and it must be used by multiple customers; maybe even hundreds. 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. What if you have server problems and they are unable to connect to you? How will repeated outages affect your customers? Will they remain customers?

Your call center uses VoIP

Your organization is 100% reliant on the internet to properly function. What if your representatives can make no outgoing telephone calls because your circuits go down? Calls coming in would be unanswerable. You might not even know people are trying to reach your office. You are essentially out of organization. While most call centers that are reputable use redundancy, is it enough? Can you truly rely on your providers? Are they as dependable as they claim? Is the quality of your calls consistently and reliably clear?

Choosing the Right Lafayette, Louisiana High-Speed Company Access Circuits for Your Company

You clearly have many options. Your decision will be based on different factors including your business needs and your budget. In review:

Internet Access for Smaller Businesses

A single fifty, ten or five megabyte Internet access circuit may be adequate to meet the needs of your small company, particularly if you have only one location and are not worried about redundancy. If you are in a “lit” building, Metro Ethernet or gigabit service may be reasonably priced options. Prices vary based on your location and availability of circuits; speak with our engineers to find your best option.

Your Single Location Mid Sized Company Needs Internet Access

Mid sized companies with a single office in Lafayette, need higher speed access to The Internet. Your choices include: Metro Ethernet, gigabit Internet or other high-speed circuits. Ideally, multiple circuits from multiple providers will provide you with the greatest redundancy. This may be attainable without doubling your costs. Using one 100-megabyte circuit instead of two 50-megabyte circuits, is one example. As a reminder; availability and costs may vary. You need to speak with one of our experts to determine your options in your specific location.

Access to the internet for the Mid-Sized Organization with Several Offices

Companies with multiple locations are most at risk for failure. Redundant circuits are essential. Different carriers are desirable. You can decrease risk during downtime by having redundant equipment as well. 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.

Larger corporations, enterprising clients and clients who provide services that are delivered via the Internet

If you can place yourself in this category, it is essential that you have Metro Ethernet, point-to-point circuits and gigabit Internet circuits. 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 company. 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.

Internet Demand and Internet Need: Receive Free Analysis

Do not risk having failing circuits or not enough bandwidth. It is imperative that the circuit or circuits you choose meet your needs but also keep you within your allowable budget. It is important to choose the correct mix of hardware and circuits. Figuring out exactly what to put in the mix, can be a daunting task.

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 are going to formulate a design or plan based partly on your current usage and demand levels. We will create something cost effective that gives you the resources your organization needs, while keeping it running smoothly.

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. It can take as little as 48 hours to provide a complete assessment.