Business Internet: How to Choose the Right Connection for Your Company

Your internet connection is the lifeline of modern business. Slow or unreliable internet kills productivity, frustrates customers, and costs money. Here's how to choose the right business internet service.

Business vs. Residential Internet

Why pay more for business internet? Several important differences:

• Service Level Agreements (SLAs) — Guaranteed uptime and repair times
• Symmetric speeds — Equal upload and download (important for cloud apps)
• Static IP addresses — Required for VPNs, servers, and some applications
• Priority support — Faster response when things go wrong
• Business-class hardware — More reliable equipment

Types of Business Internet

Fiber Optic

Best for: Businesses needing high speed and reliability

• Fastest speeds available (up to 10 Gbps)
• Symmetric upload/download
• Lowest latency
• Most reliable (immune to electrical interference)
• Higher cost, not available everywhere

Cable

Best for: Budget-conscious businesses with moderate needs

• Widely available
• Good download speeds
• Asymmetric (slower uploads)
• Shared bandwidth can slow during peak times
• More affordable than fiber

Dedicated Internet Access (DIA)

Best for: Businesses requiring guaranteed performance

• Dedicated connection not shared with others
• Guaranteed bandwidth and SLAs
• Highest reliability
• Premium pricing

Fixed Wireless

Best for: Locations where wired options are limited

• Alternative where fiber/cable unavailable
• Faster to install
• Can be affected by weather
• Speeds vary by provider and location

How Much Bandwidth Do You Need?

Calculate your needs based on usage:

• Basic email/web: 5-10 Mbps per user
• Cloud applications: 10-25 Mbps per user
• Video conferencing: Add 5-10 Mbps per concurrent call
• Large file transfers: Consider higher upload speeds
• VoIP phones: 100 Kbps per concurrent call

Add 20-30% buffer for growth and peak usage.

Questions to Ask Providers

• What's the actual speed to my location? (not "up to")
• Is the connection dedicated or shared?
• What's the uptime SLA and credits for downtime?
• What's the response time for outages?
• Are static IP addresses included?
• What's the contract term and early termination fee?
• What equipment is included/required?

Redundancy Considerations

For businesses where internet is critical, consider backup connections:

• Secondary ISP (different provider, different technology)
• 4G/5G failover
• SD-WAN to manage multiple connections