The Net in Lakewood: High-Speed Access

Accessing High Speed Internet in Lakewood: Gigabit Internet, Business Broadband Internet and Metro Ethernet Access

The lifeblood of Lakewood, Colorado companies doing organization in the current environment depends on reliable access to The net. Fast and reliable access to The net is needed for businesses to function properly; large corporations and small companies alike.

In the coming months and years, we’ll become increasingly reliant on our access to the internet.

The web has a significant presence in our lives. From email to information sharing, data archiving to e-commerce, and VOIP to video chat, the web is certainly ubiquitous. How can your needs be met? Is a cable modem enough? Maybe you need Metro Ethernet. You may need Gigabit Internet. What does your Lakewood, Colorado company need? Does it require 10 Meg access to The web, a 100 Meg Internet access point, a 50 Meg circuit or a 5 Meg circuit?

Access to the internet: Determining Your Business’s Needs

Before choosing an adequate or appropriate service, you must decide what your company really needs. Are surfing the web and sending email the only uses of the web? Is real time data connection with cloud servers essential to your business? Are you hosting the data in Lakewood, Colorado that remote locations depend upon?

Have you thought about what happens to your company if your high-speed Internet is interrupted by an outage? Can your business afford the downtime? Is uptime essential? Before you buy anything, you must answer these questions.

Analyzing Assorted High-Speed Internet Solutions in Lakewood, Colorado

High-speed Internet access is required by all businesses. An analysis of the costs and benefits should be done prior to choosing the broadband internet that is correct for your business. Don’t be distracted by terminology. While you may hear providers throw out words and phrases like:

• Fastest Internet access
• Business Internet service provider
• Provider of broadband cable modems
• Provider of Metro Ethernet
• GbE services or Gigabit Internet
• MPLS protocol
• point-to-point circuits
• Internet access circuits-5 Meg
• 10 megabyte Internet access
• Internet access-50 Meg
• Internet access circuits- One hundred Meg
• sip trunking / sip trunks
• Dedicated Internet line
• … and much more

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

Surfing the Web: Organization Internet Access

Most companies in Lakewood, Colorado require that some or all of their workers have access to the web. There are countless reasons to need access to the internet. Perhaps it is to order materials, to conduct company research or speak with clients.

The number of workers you have may be the factor that drives your decision. An Internet circuit of 5 -10 megabytes might be enough for your organization if you only have a few people working for you. If your company has nearly 50 people, however, and they all need to use the web at the same time, you may find that more is better.

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. If your company functions demand the downloading of documents and images or videos on a regular basis, speed becomes a must more important issue.

Does your company regularly conduct backups? 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.

Are you using a service such as DropBox or Google drive to share files? The saved files go to the cloud and are then synchronized or “shared” with other people’s computers. Enough bandwidth is required to support this function along with every other service.

Depending on where you are, you may want to look into high-speed organization Internet access such as Metro Ethernet and gigabit Internet. These are typically found in “lit buildings” in Lakewood. Providers have already wired these buildings. The ease and affordability of adding high-speed Internet to your office may surprise you.

While it may be the case that bringing Metro Ethernet into a new building can cause a big dent in your wallet, bringing the connection to a suite or offices within that building does not have to. In fact, obtaining high-speed Internet access with Metro Ethernet or gigabit Internet can often take 30 days or less depending upon availability.

Hosted Applications Requiring High-Speed Internet Access

Does your company host its own servers to run information feeds, websites or application program interfaces (APIs) with companies or offices located outside of your four walls? Are your organization headquarters with a hosted application connected to fifty or more satellite offices? Are you a retail company with 10, 000 stores? Do you host the POS system for all of them? Are you a legal practice hosting the data for three places?

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. Is the intranet solution you are choosing sufficiently reliable? Is it stable enough to support simultaneous connections from different sites?

If you have one office using the web, you may get by with a cable modem or a low- cost 10-megabyte circuit. Company headquarters should have high-speed access to The Internet such as gigabit Ethernet, Metro Ethernet or some other high-speed dedicated circuit. Multiple diverse connections require support, in addition to high speed. The support you need could not be provided by a cable modem.

Which is Better for You in Lakewood, Colorado? Dedicated Internet Bandwidth or Shared Cable Circuits?

Bringing in a cable modem, which seems to save money, may actually come at a price. Oftentimes, a lower monthly rate comes with the realization that you are sharing bandwidth with many different tenants and offices. While you may subscribe to a cable modem with a 30 Meg connection, you may be unable to reach those speeds during peak hours. Cable operators are only permitted to establish a certain amount of bandwidth within communities. That amount of bandwidth must be shared with different buildings and with the tenants housed within. 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 scenario, the bandwidth is fully allocated to you and your company or business. No one else uses it. The full capacity of your circuit should be attainable during all hours regardless of neighboring buildings, people or offices.

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 net can be reached if you use 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.

High Speed Organization Internet Circuits in Lakewood: How About Redundancy?

Lakewood has some providers that offer exceptional Internet bandwidth products and services. However, circuits can still go down and cause disruption. How can you lower the chances that you will experience some kind of outage?

Consider 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. However, if that carrier has a greater outage to your entire region or there is a line damaged outside of your office building, you may have both or all circuits go down. This offers some protection and assurance but does not eliminate all threats.

In the second type of redundancy, you bring in circuits from two different providers. 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. But, you know that they are actually separate and redundant. Diversity redundancy offers far greater 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.

You should look for redundant circuits from carriers in Lakewood that do not have the same physical geographic pathways, in order to get the most redundancy. Your goal should be to get circuits coming into your building on different sides. You do not want them on the same side. 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 sites. 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 Cost of Not Having Adequate Protection for Your Business Class High-Speed Internet access?

The cost of dependable Internet access pales in comparison to the cost of unreliable access. Think about the following situations:

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

The carrier you use for your cable modem also provides circuits for a dozen or more tenants in the office 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 the amount of available bandwidth diminishes, what will happen to your phone calls? How will the caliber of the call be affected? Will you lose calls? Inaudible (choppy) to your customers?

Maybe your company acts as a data center for various other locations

Your office is the center of your company. You may be a law firm that does file sharing or a retailer operating a POS system. All of your offices, whether you have 3 or 3, 000, rely on your primary Internet connection to successfully access data. What happens if your circuit goes down? Is it a mere annoyance or a catastrophic failure? Are remote offices able to work at all? Process or take new orders? Circulate essential files and data? Picking the right a solution can be difficult. Before doing so, be sure you fully understand your requirements. 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. 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? Will your customers remain loyal to you if they have to withstand multiple outages?

You are call center reliant on VoIP

Is the internet integral to the proper function of your company? Do you rely on it entirely? If your circuits go down, you cannot make calls. No calls could be answered either. Your business is basically done with. While many of the most reputable call centers are already aware and using the advantages of redundancy, is it sufficiently meeting their needs? Are you really getting the dependable service you need form your carriers? Are you using carriers that are truly reliable? Is the quality of service sufficient for your calls to be clear and reliable?

Picking the Right High-Speed Business Access Circuits for Your Lakewood Company

Clearly, there are many choices. Your company budget and needs will play a large part in your decision-making. In review:

Small Business Internet Access

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. 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.

Medium Sized Company in One Location: Access to the Internet

Mid sized companies with a single office in Lakewood, Colorado, need higher speed access to The net. You may choose between gigabit Internet or Metro Ethernet. You may also look into other higher-speed Internet circuits. 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. Two smaller circuits may be cheaper than one. For instance, you may use two 50 meg circuits instead of a single 100 meg circuit. Again, costs vary. Availability also varies. You need to speak with one of our experts to determine your options in your specific location.

Internet Access for the Medium Sized Company with Multiple Offices

Companies with different locations, whether 5 or 50, are at the highest risk. Redundancy is crucial. Different carriers are desirable. In addition, consider redundant equipment. Redundant routers and switches can minimize risk also. As always, take a careful look and choose the right Ethernet access services, Metro Ethernet providers, gigabit Internet providers and other high-speed access to The web circuit providers. Finding the best combination of services, providers and equipment can go a long way toward helping your company run as efficiently as possible.

Larger corporate clients, enterprise clients and providers of services delivered via the Internet

If you fall into this group, you must have Metro Ethernet, gigabit Internet circuits and point-to-point High-speed Internet circuits. You must have redundant circuits for multiple providers as well as redundant hardware in your office to ensure your uptime. Having plenty of bandwidth will help avoid interruptions or decreased speed that sometimes occurs during spikes in usage. Having both your hardware and your circuits capable of supporting many different, fast, and simultaneous connections is essential. It cannot be one or the other.

Free Internet Demand and Need Analysis

Do you understand how great the risk of failing circuits and insufficient bandwidth really is? Your ideal single circuit or multiple circuits should stay within your budget while still meeting your demands. Selecting the appropriate mix of circuits and hardware can overwhelm you.

Our engineers will analyze your needs and requirements and develop a free action plan for you. You want your company 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 click here to complete the contact form on the right side of this page or call our office to schedule an appointment for an assessment. Your assessment may be finished within as little as 48 hours.