Communications: Internet Connection (IT Assessment DIY Guide, Part 5)
This is part 5 of a series on IT Self-Assessment for small businesses. We’re providing information and guidelines for a simple IT check, giving you the ability to gain free insights into how your technology can serve your business better. Each post covers a critical area of technology.
Communications: Internet Connection
Function & Value
Your Internet connection…connects you to the Internet. Depending on your business, this is either a nice benefit or life and death. How critical web access is to your business will determine how much attention and budget you give to Internet connectivity.
Common Problems
(1) Using an underpowered connection. DSL connections are nearly always over-rated. This means if your provider claims the connection is-for example-1.5 Mbps (megabytes per second) down and .2 Mbps up, the speed you actually experience will be less. We suspect published DSL speeds can only be experienced under better-than-ideal conditions.
(2) Relying on a single connection for an Internet-dependent business. If online access is necessary for your business or your staff to function, a single connection will cause downtime. The cost of downtime (in productivity, customer relations and recovery) will probably cost much more than a backup connection.
Best Practices
(1) Consider a T1 instead of DSL. A T1 line is a fiber optic connection that is considerably faster than DSL. You can test your Internet speed online.
T1 agreements are more expensive. But in addition to better speed, T1 agreements usually have better Service Level Agreements than DSL lines. So not only is the line faster, but your provider will promise to resolve issues more quickly.
(2) If you need to ensure Internet connectivity, use redundant circuits. This means ordering T1 or DSL lines from different cabling plants. Different providers are usually using different cables, but ask your secondary provider to be sure. Your firewall can be configured with a primary and secondary connection and can route overflow traffic to the secondary line, or sense when the primary line is down and switch all traffic over. The end result is fairly seamless and makes it much less likely for your office to be disconnected.
Internet Connection Self-Assessment
What kind of Internet connection do you currently use?
Current speed (from http://www.speedtest.net/)?
What abilities does your business lose when disconnected from the Internet?
How critical is constant connectivity to your business?
High Medium Low
Issues to be addressed:
1.
2.
3.
