The Internet in Sioux City: High-Speed Access

Business Broadband Internet, Gigabit Internet and Metro Ethernet: Sioux City High Speed Internet Access

Today’s environment demands that companies in Sioux City, Iowa have reliable Internet service in order to run their organization. Fast and reliable access to The Internet is needed for businesses to function properly; large corporations and small companies alike.

In the months and years ahead, people and businesses will become more reliant on access to the net.

From video chat to voice over IP, email to data sharing and data archiving to Internet commerce, the net is everywhere you look. How can your needs be met? Perhaps a cable modem is all you need. Metro Ethernet? Gigabit Internet? Does your company in Sioux City need one of these: 10 Meg Internet access, a 100 Meg Internet access point, a 50 meg circuit or a 5 meg circuit?

How to Define your Company Need for Internet Access

Before selecting an appropriate service for your business, you must first determine what needs you are trying to satisfy. Are surfing the web and sending email the only uses of the web? Will real-time data connection with servers in the cloud be the primary use of the web? Are you hosting the data in Sioux City, Iowa and distant locations or offices rely on you?

What will happen to your company if your high-speed Internet experiences an outage? Can your company afford the downtime? Is uptime required? Before buying, these are some of the questions that you need to answer.

Analyzing Assorted High-Speed Internet Solutions in Sioux City

It is no secret that all companies need high-speed access to the internet. Choosing the correct broadband for your business requires a cost benefit analysis. While you are likely to hear some service providers toss around terms such as:

• Fastest Internet access
• Corporate Internet
• Broadband cable modem services
• Metropolitan-area Ethernet
• Gigabit Internet
• MPLS protocol
• Point-to-point circuit protocol
• Five megabyte Internet access circuit
• Ten megabyte Internet access provided
• Internet access- 50 megabytes
• High-speed Internet access circuits-100 megabytes
• Leading SIP trunk authority
• Direct or dedicated Internet access
• … and countless others

… the actual issue is knowing what technology and capability can satisfy your needs.

Surfing the Web at Work: Company Internet Access

Most companies in Sioux City require that some or all of their workers have access to the web. There are countless reasons to need access to the web. Perhaps it is to order materials, to conduct business research or communicate with clients.

Perhaps the size of your work force may determine the solution that best fits your needs. An Internet circuit of 5 -10 megabytes might be enough for your company if you only have a few people working for you. If you have 50 employees who are using the web simultaneously, you may need more.

You may not need as much high-speed access to The Internet if your employees work primarily on an intranet system with limited graphics and video. However, employees who must often download documents, images and videos, need that speed.

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.

Are you using a service such as DropBox or Google drive to share files? As people save files, those files are pushed to the cloud and then synchronized back to other people’s computers. You need to have sufficient bandwidth to support this function while also supporting every other service.

Your business location may cause you to think about high-speed company Internet access such as Metro Ethernet and/or gigabit Internet. They are usually contained in “lit buildings” in Sioux City, Iowa that have already been 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.

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. You can actually get high-speed access with gigabit Internet or even Metro Ethernet quickly. It often takes only 30 days or less, depending on availability.

Online Applications Need High-Speed Internet access

Do you have your own organization servers that run APIs, websites or feeds for offsite offices or companies? Are your company headquarters with a hosted application accessed 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 legal practice hosting the data for three sites?

If you host programs, data or information centrally, people outside of the central location need to have access. If the net connection is interrupted, those people cannot get their work done. Are you choosing an intranet solution that is sufficiently reliable and stable to support multiple simultaneous connections from varied locations?

For a single office surfing the web, a cable modem or inexpensive 10 Meg circuit may be sufficient. High-speed Internet access is advisable for the headquarters. Gigabit Ethernet, Metro Ethernet or some other high-speed dedicated circuit is recommended. High speed is important but they also must be able to support multiple distinct connections. A cable modem would probably not be enough.

Which is Better for You in Sioux City? Dedicated Internet Bandwidth or Shared Cable Circuits?

Bringing in a cable modem, which seems to save money, may actually come at a price. While the monthly rate is lower, the bandwidth is generally shared among other 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. 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. While you may be capped at a 30 Meg speed, you may never be able to reach that speed during organization hours. Will there be trouble if your expectation is set at 30 but you only get 8 or 10?

Some providers offer customers dedicated and guaranteed bandwidth. If you want your very own bandwidth that is not used by anyone else, you should consider this. Regardless of neighbors, or other tenants, you should have the full capacity of your circuit at all times.

As an example, look at Metro Ethernet. They provide guaranteed bandwidth in various increments. You can receive guaranteed bandwidth in increments of 100, 50, 10 and 5 megabytes. Gigabit Internet providers offer gigabit speeds from your office to the internet.

Here, carriers deliver enough high-speed to the building, so that it can be split among various tenants. The carrier has the right amount so that everyone gets the contracted speed that has been promised.

Redundant High Speed Company Internet in Sioux City, Iowa: Why More Circuits?

Despite outstanding Internet bandwidth products offered by providers in Sioux City, circuits do go down. You must ask yourself: “how do I lessen the chance of an outage? ”

Try using redundant circuits.

Redundancy basically comes in two forms.

The first kind of redundancy exists when one carrier provides one customer with many circuits. If there is a problem with a line or a port in your router, circuit redundancy can offer some protection. 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. There is some protection that comes with this but there is risk as well.

You can also achieve redundancy by utilizing different providers 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. You know the truth: that they are individual circuits and are there to back each other up in case one goes down. You will get more substantial protection from this diversity redundancy. If one carrier has a problem, the other likely will not.

You want maximum redundancy. In order to achieve this, look for redundant circuits from different providers with different physical geographic pathways in Sioux City. 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. Ideally, the circuits will be going in different directions and toward various central business spaces or data centers. 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 Company Class High-Speed Internet access?

It is true that Internet access costs you money. However, the cost does not come close to what you will pay if the access that is not reliable. Contemplate these situations:

Your business telephone utilizes voice-over Internet Protocol, or VoIP as it is commonly known

You are on a cable modem with the carrier providing circuits to 14 other tenants in your building. Any of these tenants may be taking many calls, conducting huge downloads or streaming video during your regular office hours. As the amount of available bandwidth diminishes, what happens to your phone calls? How will the caliber of the call be affected? Will you lose calls? Will you sound muffled or choppy to your customers?

Is your organization the central data location for multiple 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. All of your locations, you may have 2, you may have 500, you may have 4, 000, count on your main Internet connection to access and receive data. What happens if your circuit crashes? Is it simply an irritation or a catastrophe? Can your satellite or remote office do any work at all? What will happen to new orders? Can they be taken or processed? Disseminate needed information and data? Picking the right a solution can be difficult. Before doing so, be sure you fully understand your requirements. Perhaps you have hundreds of clients or customers that use a hosted solution that your software company is running. 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 rates or other information. What if other systems can’t connect to your office servers? Multiple outages may annoy your customers.

You have a large call center that is completely dependent on voice over Internet protocol

Maybe your business depends entirely on the internet. Should your circuits go down, your representatives cannot make outbound calls. There would be no way to answer incoming calls of people trying to reach your representatives. Basically, you are out of organization. For competent call centers that already use and understand the problems that can arise, is redundancy enough? Can you truly rely on your carriers? Are they as dependable as they claim? Are you getting quality service so that your calls are clear and consistent?

In Sioux City, Iowa: Selecting the Proper High-Speed Company Access Circuits for Your Company

Obviously, there are a variety of choices. Your company needs and your budget will have to come into consideration when deciding on your solutions. In summary:

Internet Access for Smaller Businesses

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. 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. Because prices can vary based on the location of your organization and the availability of circuits, speak with our engineers to learn your options.

Your Single Location Mid Sized Company Needs Internet Access

You have a midsized company in Sioux City; you will surely need higher-speed Internet. You may choose between gigabit Internet or Metro Ethernet. You may also look into other higher-speed Internet circuits. Ideally, multiple circuits from multiple providers will provide you with the greatest redundancy. Achieving this may cost extra but it won’t double your costs. For example, you may use 2 fifty meg circuits instead of 1 one hundred meg circuit. Remember, costs vary. So does availability. Speaking with one of our experts will help you determine the options available in your specific location.

Internet Access for Mid-Sized Businesses with Several Locations

The greatest risk of failure belongs to companies that have multiple places of business or offices. They need redundant circuits. It is helpful if they use multiple carriers. Redundant routers, switches and other equipment can also be helpful to lessen downtime during a problem. Take a careful look at Ethernet access services, Metro Ethernet providers and gigabit Internet providers. Research other high-speed Internet access circuit providers also and make an informed decision. The correct combination of providers and services can keep your company running smoothly and efficiently.

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

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. You will want to have the greatest protection of your uptime. To accomplish this you must have redundancy: redundant circuits from multiple carriers and redundant hardware for your system. You do not want any slowdowns or interruptions that often occur during spikes in usage. Avoid this by having sufficient bandwidth. Both your hardware and circuits must be capable of supporting a vast number of simultaneous and fast connections.

Free Internet Demand and Need Analysis

Do you understand how great the risk of failing circuits and insufficient bandwidth really is? It is imperative that the circuit or circuits you choose meet your needs but also keep you within your allowable budget. It is essential to choose the correct mix of hardware and circuits. Figuring out exactly what to put in the mix, can be a daunting task.

Our engineers can help. We are going to analyze your requirements and needs and create a free action plan for you. We will examine your demand levels and current usage. We’ll then design a plan that keeps your costs reasonable while meeting your demand for a smoothly run business.

Please call our office for an assessment appointment or click here to complete the contact form on the right side of the page. We can often provide assessments within 48 hours.