The Internet in Rock Island: High-Speed Access

High Speed Internet access in Rock Island, Illinois: Company Broadband Internet, Gigabit Internet and Metro Ethernet Access

Reliable access to The net is the lifeblood of Rock Island, Illinois companies and their business. All companies, from Fortune 500 to small businesses, have functions that rely on easy, dependable and quick access to The Internet.

We will become increasingly reliant on access to The Internet as the months and years progress.

Our uses of the net reach far and wide. From data sharing, video calls, and shopping to VOIP and email, the net has a broad presence. What can best meet your needs? Perhaps a cable modem is all you need. Your needs may point to Metro Ethernet as a solution. Your needs may be met with Gigabit Internet. Your Rock Island, Illinois company probably needs a 5 Meg Internet circuit, 10 Meg Internet access, a 50 Meg circuit, or a 100 Meg access to The Internet point but which one is best?

Access to the net: Determining Your Business’s Needs

Your organization must assess its real needs. This must be done before an appropriate service can be chosen. Is the internet primarily used for emailing or web surfing? Is the net used for real-time data connection with servers in the cloud? Are you hosting the data in Rock Island, Illinois that remote locations rely upon?

What if there is an outage and your high-speed Internet is interrupted? Will your organization suffer from the lull? Does your business require uptime? You must answer these questions before you buy.

Looking at Different High Speed Internet Solutions: Rock Island

Plainly stated, companies require high-speed access to The Internet. When picking the correct broadband internet, balancing the costs and benefits to your business is imperative. While many providers throw around terminologies such as:

• Fastest Internet access
• Provider of Internet for Businesses
• Cable modems and broadband
• Metropolitan-area Ethernet provider
• Gigabit Internet services
• MPLS
• Point-to-point circuit protocol
• Five megabyte Internet access
• 10 Meg Internet access circuits
• We have fifty-megabyte Internet access circuits
• High-speed Internet access circuits-100 megabytes
• Sip trunking providers
• Internet access dedicated to you and only you
• … and then some

… focus on what matters: what does your company need and what are the best services and solutions out there to meet those needs?

Web Surfing and Organization Internet Access

Companies in Rock Island 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. Whether it is for company research, to order supplies or to use third-party applications, the net is required.

The best solution may rely upon how many employees you have. A 5 or 10 megabyte Internet circuit may be perfect if you only have a few employees. You may need more if you have more workers and those workers all need to be on the net during the same hours.

Your need for high-speed Internet may be lessened if your workers are just accessing an intranet systemHowever, employees who must often download documents, images and videos, need that speed.

Does your business regularly conduct backups? When you do remote backups from every workstation, which you should, you must support multiple and simultaneous connections to the web in order 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. Supporting file sharing, while supporting every other service, requires sufficient bandwidth.

Are you interested in high-speed business Internet? Depending on where you are located, you may want to look into the viability of gigabit Internet and Metro Ethernet. They are usually contained in “lit buildings” in Rock Island 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.

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. Depending on availability, it is often possible to obtain high-speed Internet access with Metro Ethernet or gigabit Internet in 30 days or less.

Online Applications Need High-Speed access to The net

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? Is your main organization office with a hosted application accessed by 40 or even 50 branch office sites? Is your organization retail? Do you have thousands of stores? Do you host the point of sale system for the entire chain? Are you an attorney with offices multiple cities or states? Do you have one office hosting data for several locations?

When data and programs are hosted centrally at one main site, people outside that location must gain access. People can’t work if you have no Internet connection. When deciding on the right intranet solution for your organization, ask yourself: Is the solution going to adequately support simultaneous and multiple connections from my different locations?

For one office or a small organization with just one or two people surfing the web, a less expensive 10 Meg circuit or a cable modem may meet your needs. It is advisable that high-speed access to The net be available at the central business 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 probably not be enough.

Dedicated Bandwidth Versus Rock Island Shared Cable Circuits

Bringing in a less-expensive circuit like a cable modem often comes with 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. Many cable operators can only deliver a certain amount of bandwidth in a community. Buildings, offices and tenants within the buildings all must share that amount of bandwidth, whatever it may be. The 30-meg speed you are capped out sounds good but it is possible that you will never reach that speed during business hours. Is it a problem if you get a quarter or even half of the speed you expected?

You can sign up for dedicated and guaranteed bandwidth from some carriers. With these options, bandwidth is yours. It is not shared with anyone outside of your company. 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.

Providers in these situations deliver enough to cover everyone’s needs. The providers divide their circuit to various tenants while guaranteeing that everyone gets their contracted speed.

Incorporating Redundancy Into Your High Speed Business Internet Circuits in Rock Island, Illinois

While certain providers offer superior Internet bandwidth products in Rock Island, the reality is that it is possible for a circuit to go down. The question then becomes, “how do I minimize my chance of an outage? ”

Consider redundant circuits.

There are, in essence, two types of redundancy.

The first type is when one single carrier provides you with multiple circuits. If there is a problem with a line or a port in your router, circuit redundancy can offer some protection. 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. While there is some security in this, you are still vulnerable under some circumstances.

You can also achieve redundancy by utilizing different carriers to bring in and establish your circuits. Using advanced routers and IP address allocations, you can bind these connections together so that, to your users and to the public, it appears and behaves as a single circuit. But, you know that they are actually separate and redundant. This is called diversity redundancy and offers more protection that the first. You will still have a live, fully functioning carrier if one fails.

You want maximum redundancy. In order to achieve this, look for redundant circuits from different providers with different physical geographic pathways in Rock Island. In other words, try to obtain circuits entering the building from different sides of the building. 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.

What Are the Costs Associated With Not Adequately Protecting Your Organization High-Speed Internet access?

While access to The net is not free, it pales in comparison with the cost of not having reliable access to The web. Please think about the following scenarios:

Your company is dependent on VoIP for phone service

If your company utilizes a cable modem, consider whether your carrier is providing circuits for multiple other tenants within the building. It is possible that during normal company hours, those tenants might be downloading large files or watching continuous videos. They might be getting a lot of phone calls. How will your telephone calls be affected as the amount of available bandwidth decreases? How will it affect the quality of that telephone call? Maybe calls will randomly drop? Will you sound muffled or choppy to your customers?

Multiple locations use your business as the central data point

Your office may be the working center of an entire organization enterprise. The kind of company does not necessarily matter. You may be a law firm doing file sharing, an accounting practice sharing databases or a retailer operating a distributed point-of-sale system. All of your sites, you may have 2, you may have 500, you may have 4, 000, rely on your main Internet connection to access and receive data. What happens if your circuit goes down? Would it annoy you or destroy you? Are remote offices able to work at all? Can they take or process any orders at all? Disseminate needed information and data? Be sure you understand your requirements fully before choosing a solution. Perhaps you are a software company, running a hosted solution used by hundreds of customers. Is an API utilized in your company so that your customers can access and communicate with your system? What if you have server problems and they are unable to connect to you? Will your customers remain loyal to you if they have to withstand multiple outages?

Your organization call center utilizes voice-over Internet protocol (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 company. 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 your current carriers as dependable as you would like? Is the quality of service sufficient for your calls to be clear and reliable?

Picking the Right High-Speed Business Access Circuits for Your Company in Rock Island, Illinois

You have several different options to pick from. Your business budget and needs will play a large part in your decision-making. To recap:

Internet Access for the Small Business Owner

If you have one location or office and do not feel the need to consider redundancy for your system, a smaller access to The Internet circuit may be all you need. A single fifty, ten or five megabyte circuit might be enough. Find out if you are in a lit building. If so, the price of Metro Ethernet or gigabit service may be affordable. 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 organization.

Mid-Sized Company Internet access: One Location

Mid sized companies with a single office in Rock Island, need higher speed Internet access. You may choose between gigabit Internet or Metro Ethernet. You may also look into other higher-speed Internet circuits. In a perfect world, you will achieve maximum redundancy by utilizing multiple carriers to provide and service different circuits. You can sometimes achieve this without doubling 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. Availability and costs vary. Speaking with one of our experts will help you determine the options available in your specific location.

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

Companies with multiple locations are most at risk for failure. Redundant circuits are essential. Having several providers would afford extra protection. 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. Finding the best combination of services, providers and equipment can go a long way toward helping your business run as efficiently as possible.

Clients who provide services delivered via Internet, large corporate and enterprise clientele

For businesses that fit this description, it is essential to have gigabit Internet circuits, point-to-point high-speed Internet circuits and Metro Ethernet Internet circuits. Having redundant hardware as well as redundant circuits from different providers will ensure your needed uptime. You need enough bandwidth. The bandwidth must be sufficient to handle spikes in usage with no slowdowns or interruptions. Your circuits and hardware must be able to support a large number of fast and simultaneous connections.

You Can Get a Free Internet Need and Demand Analysis

Insufficient bandwidth and failing circuits are present tremendous risk to your company. You must select the single circuit or multiple circuits that can meet your demands and stay within your budget. Choosing the right mix of circuits and hardware is 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 will examine your demand levels and current usage. We will then design a plan that keeps your costs reasonable while meeting your demand for a smoothly run company.

Please call our office for an assessment appointment or click here to complete the contact form on the right side of the page. Assessments are completed in as little as 48 hours.