Sunday, December 14, 2008

Business Broadband Provider

Keeping Tempo with the Company: Business Broadband Provider

Internet service is becoming more and more important to businesses, since there are many online applications that are needed for day to day operation. If the broadband connection provider is not fast enough or reliable enough, business suffers not only in lack of productivity, but also in the moral in the workplace due to the frustrations those types of issues cause employees.

There are two viable options for business broadband providers on the market today. Each option has its own sets of strengths and weaknesses. A business has to decide what it is looking for in its ideal internet solution and then weigh the pros and cons of each provider.

Cable

Cable is the most common business broadband provider. Not only has cable been around the longest, but it also is relatively inexpensive and works with businesses to give the best solution for each company. Cable internet runs through the same cable fibers as cable TV or cable phone service. As such, it is a great option for businesses that have waiting rooms or other types of services for their customers where TV is available. Cable is one business broadband provider today that offers a bundling of all three services which gives a discounted rate to the business. In addition, it allows the business to have only one point of contact if they have a problem with any of those services. Most cable internet providers also network business offices and provide firewalls so that the workplace is secure and vital information cannot be lost to hackers or faults in the system.

The pitfall of cable internet as a business broadband provider is that the bandwidth at certain times of day is not conducive to the same rate of speed being maintained at all times of day. For the most part this is not a problem, as the high usage times are usually during lunch and in the evenings when people get home from work. However, it is a consideration, especially for companies who have high internet usage. Slower speeds mean less productivity, a problem that no business wants to face.

DSL

DSL is very comparable to cable in the types and speed of services that are offered. Pricing is also comparable since they too bundle services in most cases. DSL business broadband providers run the service through the phone lines for the most part, which is why they are called Digital Subscriber Line service.

The downside of DSL is that the service speeds are the fastest the closer the company is to the main phone company office. Companies that are farther away will experience slower speeds which decrease productivity, especially in high usage offices.

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