High Speed Business Internet

By: John Shepler

Broadband for business has many more options available than residential broadband. Conventional wisdom is that businesses pay dearly for their high speed Internet. It’s true that some telecom options are more costly, even much more costly than consumer services… for good reasons. But other options are priced in the same ballpark as residential broadband and perfect for certain applications. Let’s take a look at the range of high speed business Internet services available for your location and how to choose.

Business Cable Broadband
At the low end of the price spectrum is cable based broadband Internet. Technically, this is known as DOCSIS 3.0 or D3. Yes, it is delivered on the same coaxial cable that brings in Cable TV. That’s an advantage for certain businesses, like bars and doctor’s waiting rooms. You can get a bundle of broadband and TV, or a “triple play” of broadband, TV and telephone on one line.

Pricing is very attractive because of the huge number of subscribers on the cable. That is also a limitation. You and dozens or hundreds of other users are sharing a pool of bandwidth. When the provider says you get “up to” a certain bandwidth, that is the maximum you’ll see. When lots of other subscribers are online and downloading video or other large files, the line speed for everyone slows down accordingly.

Another reason prices are so low is that cable broadband is not regulated the same way as legacy telecom services. It is considered an “information service” with delivery on a “best effort” basis. Telecom services have SLAs (Service Level Agreements) that spell out performance characteristics and time to response and repair outages.

How do you know if business cable broadband is right for you? For small businesses, especially those who can take advantage of the bundled options, cable is budget friendly. If you have experience with cable broadband at home and are satisfied with the performance and reliability, you’ll likely be happy with the business version as well.

Wireless Broadband
Sometimes you don’t want or need wires at all. 3G and even 4G cellular broadband is available for most business locations. Without the wires, you can be mobile with your smartphone, tablet or laptop computer. A high performance fixed transceiver works great for “pop up” stores or construction sites that only need temporary service.

The limitations of wireless broadband tends to be the limited bandwidth available. Even if you have all the speed you need for your applications, you have a monthly download quota of 5 GB, 10 GB or some number. For things like credit card verification, email and occasional Web access, this may not be a problem. It isn’t a good match for many employees, considerable video downloads or software updates.

Satellite is a fixed wireless service separate from cell towers. It works anywhere you can mount a small dish and have a clear view of the southern sky. Like cellular broadband, satellite is bandwidth limited and not suitable for heavy use. It also suffers from high latency, or time delay, that make it difficult to use for real time applications like VoIP and video conferencing.

T1 lines
T1 is the classic broadband line for businesses. It offers rock solid bandwidth that is equal in both the upload and download directions. Shared bandwidth services, like cable and wireless, offer much higher download that upload speeds. T1 is dedicated to your use and not shared with other companies. It offers low latency and high reliability.

The main limitation of T1 is the bandwidth. It’s 1.5 Mbps. That used to be plenty and still is for smaller applications. You can increase this from 3 to 12 Mbps by adding more T1 lines. This is called “bonded T1.” Each line has a certain cost, so it can get pricey fast.

T1 and bonded T1 offer the professional grade performance you need for nearly everything you want to do, including cloud services and secure point to point connections. It’s also available just about anywhere you can get a conventional telephone line.

DS3 or T3
The legacy upgrade path from T1 is called T3, also known as DS3 (not to be confused with cable D3). Bandwidth increases from 1.5 Mbps to 45 Mbps. That is generally enough for most small to medium size businesses. Like T1, DS3 is highly reliable with low latency, jitter and packet loss. It can be set up as a direct point to point line service as well as Internet access.

The two limitations of DS3 are the relatively high cost compared with other options and availability. The DS3 connection is a pair of coaxial copper cables, but fiber optic lines carry the signal most of the way. That means that fiber needs to be nearby for DS3 to be an option.

Ethernet over Copper
Ethernet over Copper or EoC is a direct competitor to T1. EoC uses the same twisted pair copper wires employed by T1. Multiple pairs are bonded to increase bandwidth. What EoC offers is a direct Ethernet connection to your network plus bandwidth options from 3 to 20 Mbps, even up to 50 or 100 Mbps in some locations.

Ethernet over Copper is widely available and the cost per Mbps tends to be much lower than T1 or DS3. The limitation is that you need to be located near the telco office to get the higher bandwidths. Unlike T1, EoC bandwidth rapidly decreases with distance. However, when available, Ethernet over Copper is an excellent choice for business broadband.

Ethernet over Fiber
Like EoC, EoF or Ethernet over Fiber gives you a high performance broadband service at an excellent price. As you might guess, moving from copper to fiber makes higher bandwidths available. Ethernet over Fiber bandwidth options start at 10 Mbps and go up to 100 Mbps, 1000 Mbps and 10 Gbps. In some locations you can now get 100 Gbps bandwidth if you need this service level.

Fiber has the advantage of being “future proof.” Once installed, chances are that you’ll never need further line construction. Ethernet (as opposed to legacy SONET fiber) is highly scalable. That means you can start off paying for the bandwidth you need today and then upgrade to higher levels with a simple phone call to your provider. Usually no equipment changes will be needed and you can get the increase immediately or within a short time frame compared to upgrading other services.

What broadband option is best for your business? It comes down to cost vs performance along with availability. Get the complete picture on the options for your location with competitive quotes for high speed business Internet services.

VoIP Compatible High Speed Internet

Voice over IP (VoIP) technology is attracting more and more business users all the time. There are big advantages over traditional Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) in features and cost savings. The big issue is what to do with the outside phone lines.

Why is this even a question? It’s because the century old public telephone system has been based on analog transmissions over twisted pair copper wiring. Many smaller companies still have multiple analog business lines connected directly to their phones or to Key Telephone systems or in-house PBX systems. Others who are big enough to need at least a half-dozen outside lines have moved to digital transmission via ISDN PRI, also called T1 PRI.

So, if PRI is digital then what’s the issue with VoIP?

Well, there’s digital and there’s digital. PRI telephone trunks are actually digital replications of the old analog lines. Each PRI consists of 23 channels that each carry one digitized phone conversation. One other channel is used for switching and data, like Caller ID. Those 23 PRI “B” channels are strung together end to end for transmission. Each channel is 8 bits wide and sampled 8,000 times a second. At the far end, the channels are separated and converted back to analog phone signals.

Note that nowhere here is any mention of packets. You know that computer networks all communicate using standardized packets of information. Each packet has both address and data bits. This allows switches and routers to get them from wherever they originate to wherever they are intended.

TDM (Time Division Multiplexed) lines, such as PRI, use channels instead of packets. The switching function is provided by the central office switch. When a phone call is in process, there is a direct electrical connection between the two callers. That connection is set up at the beginning of the call and torn down when the call is over.

If you are thinking that PRI service isn’t really compatible with VoIP, you’d be partially right. It’s really a conversion process between your office phone system that might be VoIP and the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) that is still analog and TDM based. What VoIP really needs is a telephone line that is compatible with packet switched technology.

The first obvious option is to use the Internet to connect you with your VoIP phone service provider. After all, the Internet is readily available, relatively inexpensive to access, and packet based. Remember that Internet Protocol (IP) is the basis of VoIP.

What gets missed is that there is a big difference in the technology that includes Internet Protocol and the actual performance of the public Internet itself. One issue is that the Internet is open to anyone to do pretty much anything they want on it. There is no traffic manager ensuring that each user gets adequate resources for their particular application. There is a pool of resources and it’s first packet come, first served. Your voice packets may be competing with users backing up their files to the cloud, accessing ecommerce websites or downloading HD videos. If there is enough low latency bandwidth for everyone, then no problem. If the pipes get clogged up like rush hour on the Interstate, then you get what you get.

That can be a big problem for sensitive packet streams such as VoIP calls. Network congestion can cause dropped packets that distort the voice, delay some packets so they arrive out of sequence and are discarded, or impose a noticeable delay that makes two-way conversations difficult.

You can improve your chances of getting decent VoIP voice quality by using dedicated instead of shared bandwidth for your connection. That means Ethernet over Copper or T1 lines instead of cable broadband or DSL. You can also impose QoS (Quality of Service) through your own router so that at least your VoIP conversations aren’t competing with computer file transfers in your own office.

A better idea, although a bit pricier, is to use a dedicated private line called a SIP trunk between your network and your service provider. QoS is maintained by the service provider from end to end. As long as you have enough bandwidth to support all the calls you want to make, everything should work beautifully all the time. SIP trunks can be set up to provide you with both telephone service and broadband Internet access. This is done by dividing up the trunk so that phone calls and Internet are kept completely separate.

Are you considering a change to your business phone system because you are dissatisfied with how it works or are looking to add features or reduce costs? Investigate enterprise VoIP and hosted PBX solutions with SIP Trunks as a better approach for your company.

Alternative Rural Broadband Solution

Anyone who lives or works out in the boonies faces the frustration of limited bandwidth options. All of the good stuff is in town. Well, maybe not all. There is a way that many rural broadband users can stay connected without breaking the bank or waiting for a national buildout that could take years.

Does this involve DSL or Cable broadband? Not much chance of that. Neither the telephone companies nor the cable companies venture far from the city limits with their digital services. Yes, you can get analog phone service anywhere thanks to a longstanding government policy of universal telephone service. These lines will support dial-up Internet access at 56 Kbps max speed. Actually, there are still a lot of people on dial-up simply because they don’t need much more than email and occasional web browsing. If you are still using dial-up, how would you like much faster broadband service for the same price or less?

That sounds like a pretty tall order, but there really is such a solution. It’s available thanks to the massive nationwide construction of the cellular phone network. Originally for voice only, broadband data transmission has been added to nearly all the cell towers. If all you do is talk on a cell phone, you may be unaware that broadband Internet is streaming from the same towers. All you need is a device to access it.

What I’m suggesting is using wireless 3G Internet as your rural broadband solution. It’s available now, it’s priced at about the same level as DSL or cable broadband services, and it penetrates many rural areas. We’ve become so accustomed to thinking of Internet access through wires, that it’s easy to overlook wireless solutions.

So, can you use your cell phone out in the country where you’d like to be able to also use your computer? Yes? Then you’re probably in luck. Granted, voice service may be available in dead spots for broadband. It’s not a sure indicator that making phone calls means that high speed Internet will also work. The more bars, the better. Sometimes you can connect for data, but at a much lower 2G speed that is more like dial-up. You need a decent signal to support 3G broadband speeds.

Those with smartphones can tell pretty quickly how well they can get broadband service where they want to. There are apps for the iPhone and Android models that run speed tests on your data service and tell you how fast your download and upload speeds are. If you are getting 1 Mbps or better, you’re doing well.

Even faster speeds are available with 4G cellular broadband services. Many towers have been upgraded to support the high speed 4G LTE services that can be 10x the speed of 3G. This is pretty spotty to date. Some areas have excellent 4G service. Others have none at all.

How do you connect? One way is to get a tethering plan for your smartphone and use that to power your desktop, laptop and tablet devices. This saves you the cost of a separate service, but you’ll generally have to commit to the largest and most expensive data plans to get the tethering options.

Another option is to go with a no contract service and a USB modem or mobile hotspot. These plans start at $9.99 a month for a small 200 MB plan. That’s half what you pay for a lot of dial-up and it runs faster. It’s good enough for email and occasional surfing. Heavier users can trade up to larger plans of 500 MB, 1 GB or 5GB.

One thing you need to know about cellular plans is that they aren’t really suitable for streaming movies or download large software updates. There just isn’t enough capacity in the system to handle this kind of demand on the airwaves. Consequently, you will be limited to a maximum of 5 GB or so for the month as compared to 250 GB for a popular cable broadband service.

The other thing to know is that even 3G coverage isn’t universal. Way out in the boonies there really is no service for any type of cellular service. However, there are a lot more towers than there used to be and good coverage in exurb areas around major cities. You need to check the coverage maps for any service you intend to purchase to make sure there is solid 3G or 4G signal where you want to have broadband.

Are you interested in a no contract 3G broadband service with plans starting at $9.99 a month? See if this option can provide your connection needs for a rural broadband solution.

High Speed Internet For Business

Not many years ago high speed Internet access was hard to come by, even for businesses. Prices were high and service options were few. That’s all changed dramatically. Now there are multiple broadband options for your business even if you are located out in the boonies. Let’s take a look at a range of high speed Internet connections divvied up by low, medium and high bandwidth.

Most businesses don’t need a gazillion bits per second, even though they might fancy carrier level bandwidth services. One thing that’s always been true and is likely to stay that way is that the higher the bandwidth, the higher the price. It’s true that within bandwidth categories there can be quite a price differential. You can also get a lot more bandwidth if you elect for shared vs dedicated service. However, that shared bandwidth varies all over the place while dedicated services are rock solid.

The low end of the bandwidth range is dominated by wireline and wireless services. Twisted pair copper is a popular delivery medium because it is almost always available in the form of multi-pair wiring installed by the telephone company. Any copper pairs not being used to carry telephone calls are available for data.

T1 is the traditional data connection for business locations. It is a dedicated bandwidth solution with symmetrical 1.5 Mbps x 1.5 Mbps available at all times. There are generally Service Level Agreements (SLAs) that guarantee uptime, bandwidth and other parameters like jitter and latency. Pricing starts at around $300 per month, sometimes less for a multi-year lease. Out of the way locations may find that pricing is higher for T1 lines.

Ethernet over Copper (EoC) is fast moving in as a direct competitor to T1. It uses the same multiple copper telco pairs but a different modulation scheme that is more efficient. T1 can be run just about any distance. EoC bandwidth is highly dependent on how close you are to the central office. Bandwidths from 2 to 30 Mbps are common, with 3 Mbps around the same price as a T1 line. A very popular EoC service upgrade is 10 x 10 Mbps for businesses that find T1 lines too restrictive and bonded T1 lines too expensive.

There are two other copper-based high speed Internet technologies. One is DSL, a shared bandwidth service that uses twisted pair copper and is relatively inexpensive. The other is Cable broadband, with bandwidths as high as 100 Mbps download and 10 Mbps upload for about what you pay for a T1 line. Both DSL and Cable are asymmetrical bandwidth (higher download than upload speeds) and are offered without SLAs. The big attraction is lower costs, especially for businesses like quick serve restaurants that want to offer free WiFi and have email and Web access for the office. Availability is limited. Cable is pretty much only in-town where the main cable has already been run.

The other way to go is wireless. Many franchise operations use VSAT or Very Small Aperture Terminal satellite antennas. These are a bit larger than the ones used to pick up satellite TV and are set up for two-way data transmission. Recently, 3G and 4G fixed wireless broadband has become a strong competitor for both VSAT and copper wireline solutions. The cost is about half the price of T1 for similar performance, with rural service often available. VSAT can be installed anywhere that you have power and a clear view of the southern sky.

The middle portion of the bandwidth spectrum, say from 10 Mbps to 100 mbps is dominated by bonded T1 lines at the low end, Ethernet over Copper throughout the range, and fiber optic services at the high end. DS3 or T3 lines running at 45 Mbps are the legacy service and are still very popular. In downtown metro areas, you may be able to get high speed fixed wireless in this bandwidth range. Cable is becoming a competitor with 50 Mbps and 100 Mbps services displacing both copper and fiber when symmetrical and dedicated bandwidth aren’t mandatory and you can live without service level agreements.

High bandwidth Internet access over 100 Mbps is now a battle between SONET and Ethernet fiber optic services. SONET is the incumbent, but tends to be higher cost. Ethernet is the newer service, often lower in price but not as generally available. Ethernet is also more granular in its bandwidth and easier scaled up for businesses that are on a fast growth path. Both SONET and Ethernet can give you as much bandwidth as you need and can afford, up to 10 Gbps and higher.

What Internet service option is best for your business? Get high speed Internet prices and availability for a wide range of options, with complementary consulting to help you pick the right solution for your needs.

Fiber Plus Copper Equals High Bandwidth

We’re bandwidth hungry and getting more so by the day. Both businesses and consumers are finding themselves frustrated by their inability to take advantage of all the latest technologies due to bandwidth limited connections. Productivity vendors and content providers are in the same fix. They’re having a hard time delivering everything they can produce simply because the demand for transport and last mile bandwidth has exceeded the supply.

This situation is reminiscent of the early days of the personal computer. For several decades you just couldn’t get enough processor speed, RAM memory or hard disk capacity. Cheap RAM, huge disks and multi-core processors have pretty much eliminated this bottleneck. Well, not completely. You still find yourself having to upgrade your machines every few years to keep up with the demands of applications, especially video. But today’s limitations on progress are more related to the size of the pipe than the size of the machine.

Seems like the solution is pretty obvious. All we need to do is replace our outmoded copper infrastructure with fiber optic bundles and we’ll have all the bandwidth we can use.

In a sense, that’s what’s happening. Nearly all carriers have embraced fiber optic IP networks and are expanding their fiber footprints as fast as they can. But to think that we’re going to completely retrofit a century and a half’s worth of copper build-out with fiber optics on a one to one basis is just fanciful. Even today there’s no standard that mandates fiber optic service for new homes and businesses as a utility. You can bet that every building gets universal phone service delivered over twisted pair copper. But how many have a multi-fiber bundle terminated on the premises?

Someday fiber optics will be the default for voice, data and video. Copper will be for power. But today’s reality is that most bandwidth will be delivered to homes and businesses over standard copper telco wiring. Fortunately, technology has come to the rescue with new modulation techniques to squeeze higher and higher bandwidths from already installed copper wiring.

For businesses, the hottest bandwidth service right now is called Ethernet over Copper. It is becoming the upgrade of choice by companies who have tapped out the capacity of their T1 lines but can’t afford the construction costs to bring in fiber connections. The new terminal equipment combines the capacity of multiple copper pair to create a single wide bandwidth Ethernet service from carrier to user. The bandwidth is anywhere from 1 to 50 Mbps over a distance of a few blocks to a few miles.

That’s a considerable increase for many small businesses, although medium and larger companies still need to pony up for fiber to get the 100 Mbps to Gigabit Ethernet connections they need. But what about the consumer and companies that have a crying need for higher bandwidth but don’t have the budgets yet for fiber?

AT&T is pursuing a solution for residential users called FTTN or Fiber To The Node. This is a hybrid arrangement that uses the high bandwidth of fiber to get close to a neighborhood and then leverages the value of the already-installed telephone wiring to carry the signals into the home. It’s a way to jack up the speed of DSL way beyond what copper can carry all the way from the central office. How fast? AT&T is reportedly going to start trial service at 80 Mbps next year. That’s faster than the speedy 50 Mbps broadband service offered by Cable’s upgrade to DOCSIS 3.0 modems and even Verizon’s FiOS. Of course, both fiber and Cable have room to increase their speeds as competition demands. But perhaps AT&T can also push the envelope to 100 Mbps and beyond.

FTTN advances can benefit business, too. In metropolitan and suburban areas, carriers establish POPs or Points of Presence where they can connect to their fiber networks. From there they can “light” buildings with fiber service or provide EoC or Ethernet over Copper. The more fiber services there are in a particular area, the more options you have for both fiber and copper bandwidth at reasonable prices with minimal or no construction costs. Knowing where the high bandwidth services are already installed can also be a strategic advantage. If you are looking to relocate anyway, it just makes sense to find a location that already has the network services you’ll be needing. Use the Lit Building Finder to see what fiber optic bandwidth services are nearby.

CLEAR Sailing for 4G Wireless

You’ve heard that 4G wireless is coming. Well, CLEAR is deploying 4G WiMAX wireless services right now. If you are one of the lucky ones living in an area where CLEAR WiMAX high speed wireless broadband Internet is available, you’ll enjoy bandwidth similar to what you get from DSL or Cable, but without the wires. Various plans are available for home, mobile or both.

So, what’s WiMAX and what is the difference between 3G and 4G? WiMAX is an international standard for wireless broadband service. It’s been described as WiFi with a city-wide coverage area. Technically there are a lot of differences between WiFi and WiMAX, but that’s probably how you’ll use it.

WiMAX stands for Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access. It’s defined by IEEE standard 802.16. You’ll remember that WiFi is also an IEEE standard, 802.11. One difference between WiMAX and WiFi is that WiMAX uses licensed frequencies at high power. WiFi shares unlicensed frequencies with microwave ovens, Bluetooth headsets, cordless phones and other devices that operate at relatively low power levels. This is why you can get WiMAX in your car or at home, while WiFi disappears as soon as you drive away from the restaurant or leave your driveway.

Remember all the hoopla about kicking analog TV stations off the air so their channels could be sold to the highest bidder? Clearwire was one of the big winners in that spectrum auction and CLEAR WiMAX is the service they are offering on the channels they won. With no interference and towers transmitting powerful signals, WiMAX service can go for miles and even penetrate buildings. You’ll need a modem for your PC or MAC. It sits next to the computer on your desk or plugs into your WiFi router just like any other broadband modem. A WiMAX picks up its broadband Internet connection through the air. A smaller version looks like a USB memory stick and plugs into your laptop computer for mobile use. But WiMAX gives you service all over town, even in your car.

Isn’t that also true of 3G cellular broadband? Indeed it is. What WiMAX has to offer is generally higher speeds than 3G. That’s why it’s called 4G or fourth generation to indicate that it is a step up technically from 3G or third generation. How fast does WiMAX run? CLEAR says that the average expected download speeds are in the range of 3 Mbps to 6 Mbps, with occasional bursts up to 10 Mbps. Sustained rates of 3 to 6 Mbps are pretty rare for 3G mobile broadband.

Where is CLEAR WiMAX available? Right now it’s in selected areas of the country with more cities on the way as the build-out continues. The greatest concentration of service is in Texas, in almost a dozen cities. You’ll also find CLEAR in Hawaii, the Seattle-Portland area of the Pacific Northwest, Boise, Chicago, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, Atlanta and Milledgeville, Georgia, and Charlotte, Greensboro and Raleigh, North Carolina.

Another advantage of CLEAR WiMAX 4G is cost. Plans start at $30 a month, which is less many DSL and Cable broadband plans and much less than 3G cellular broadband. Being wireless, the equipment is shipped to you and you install and activate it yourself. No waiting around for the cable guys. Plus you can get combined home and mobile service, which is something DSL and Cable can’t offer.

Does this sound like a broadband service you might like to have? If so, learn more and order your CLEAR WiMAX 4G broadband service online now.