You may think that when it comes to internet connectivity you have little choice. After all, you’ve seen the adverts on the TV promising fast and reliable internet speeds. As long as you and your team are up and running, surely you have the right connection for your needs?
But the reality is that business broadband is a lot more complicated than simply connecting your IT systems to the internet. There is also more choice available, with various options offering different types of connection.
We specialise in providing business broadband services to clients in Ipswich, Colchester and Norwich (as well as the rest of the East of England).
Not only can we install the right cables and infrastructure that your business may need, but we can also provide routers, firewalls, and switches. Our business broadband services are designed to make your internet connection as fast and reliable as possible, with stringent security settings in place to protect your data and automatic failovers to keep your business connected at all times.
What types of business broadband connections are there?
You may be wondering what type of broadband connections are available, and how they differ.
You may be aware of terms such as FTTC or FTTP, but do you know what the difference is? Do you know whether leased lines are suitable for your business? Added into the mix is the new SOGEA broadband connection that allows you to have an internet-only connection without the additional of a phone line rental.
Let’s take a quick breakdown of the different broadband options available on the market.
Fibre to the Cabinet
Many businesses will use FTTC lines. They use infrastructure from your business premises to your local street cabinet. A common example of an FTTC connection is something like BT Infinity.
In rural parts of Suffolk, your proximity to your street cabinet may impact your broadband speeds. This is because the further away you are from the physical cabinet, the further your internet connection needs to travel. We understand what it’s like for businesses in rural areas, and if you need a faster, more reliable internet solution, we can work with you to create an effective solution.
Fibre to the Premises
These days, more properties (both commercial and personal) are benefiting from FTTP connections. This is where the fibre optic lines are installed direct to your premises from the exchange, bypassing the need for the local street cabinet.
If your business requires significant internet connectivity to function, or you need fast download speeds or you are working directly from cloud-software, FTTP may be the right option for you.
Leased Lines
Leased lines offer a seamless connection using a personal fibre optic line that goes straight to your business. You will have exclusive use of the cabling, giving you 100% of the upload and download speeds. With hyper fast speeds available, a leased line connection offers a broadband service that is ideal for businesses that require a consistently fast broadband connectivity, with no impact from peak time usage. What’s more, there are no data usage restrictions. For companies with significant data usage, or requiring a guaranteed upload or download speed, leased lines could significantly enhance your productivity.
SOGEA broadband
This is a relatively new product on the market. It’s a type of internet connection whereby you do not need to pay for a phone line rental alongside your internet connectivity. If you’re working from VoIP systems, it’s easy to see why this is becoming increasingly popular – after all, why would you want to pay for a landline connection that you are not using?
How will I know what type of internet connection my business needs?
At Lucid Systems, we can install the many different types of business broadband connections. We’ll work with you to identify which option is best for you – both in terms of business need, but also what is best for your budget.
We start by assessing your current infrastructure and understanding your strengths and your weaknesses. From there, we can make recommendations for the best broadband option for you.
Is your business broadband connection agile?
We use our expertise to build appropriate recommendations that not only allow you to enhance your connectivity, but also factors in agility and flexibility. We know that your business is continually evolving. What you need now, may be very different to what you could need in two- or three-years’ time. Therefore, we want to create an infrastructure that enables you to adapt with your changing business needs and give you scope to benefit from the latest advancements in business broadband tech.
Does your broadband connection meet your needs?
When choosing a business broadband solution, it’s important to look at more than just the monthly price. You should be looking for a connection that enhances your business and gives you the chance to boost your productivity.
Our approach is to pinpoint what business broadband option is right for you based on your data usage, your internet requirements, and your number of users.
While leased lines are the ultimate connection, they are not appropriate for many small-to-medium sized businesses in the East of England. The cost of leased lines may outweigh the benefits, providing you with a poor return on your investment.
That’s why our team of expert engineers will take the time to understand exactly what your business does, and what data usage you need before making any recommendations.
For example, if you’re working via the cloud, and you’re consistently uploading or downloading large document sizes (perhaps you work in a creative industry), you’ll need an option that focuses on speed. But similarly, if your business requires 100% uptime to function, then you will need something that factors in automatic failovers and focuses heavily on reliability.
Once we’re aware of your business needs, we’ll recommend a solution that juggles that balance between improving your internet connection, working with your budget, and giving you the agility that you may need in the future.
All our business broadband packages offer end-to-end security
One reason why businesses choose to rely on us to provide their broadband connections rather than a high street retailer is because of our focus on security. As an ISO 27001 accredited company, we put data security front and centre in everything that we do. Throughout your infrastructure, we will provide firewalls, routers and switches – all of which are designed to work with your wider IT systems to ensure full end-to-end security.
Additionally, our proactive management of our business broadband services means that if you do encounter any unexpected issues, we can offer rapid solutions. You’ll never have to spend hours on hold trying to contact your broadband provider to highlight any technical glitches.
