In summary
- The contracted speed is rarely the problem. What fails in companies is the uplink channel, latency, and the absence of an alternative.
- A second connection is worth more than double the speed - especially if the telephony is VoIP.
- Business broadband and home broadband are not the same product, even though the announced debit is similar.
- Sem Static IP and SLA, there is no serious business relationship.
In this article
When the internet “is slow”, the first reaction is to call your service provider and pay for a higher speed. In most cases, that does little to help — because the problem is almost never the download rate.
Residential fibre vs. business fibre
Two offers may advertise similar figures but be very different products. The differences that matter are as follows:
- Resource sharing. Residential packages are sized on the assumption that not everyone uses the service at the same time. A business connection ensures capacity in a more predictable way — and this is particularly noticeable at precisely those times when the business needs it most.
- Symmetry. Home broadband connections offer high download speeds and low upload speeds. In a business environment, the upload speed is often the limiting factor for everything.
- Fixed IP. Required for remote access, mail servers, VPNs and CCTV systems accessible from outside.
- Service levels. A business line comes with contracted repair times. For a residential line, the fault is placed in the general queue.
- Support. A business line with technical support, rather than general customer service.
The upload channel
It is the most overlooked factor and the one that has the greatest impact on day-to-day work. Everything a company send It includes: video calls, cloud backups, file sharing, document synchronisation, remote access for those working from outside the office, and voice calls if the switchboard is VoIP.
A highly asymmetric connection becomes saturated on the upload side without the high download figure changing — and the symptom that appears is “the internet is slow”, when in fact it is congested in only one direction.
Classic symptom: Calls and video conferences always degrade at the same time. It almost always coincides with the window when backups are uploaded to the cloud. It is resolved with priority management and scheduling — not with more speed.
Redundancy: the decision that matters
If you have to choose between doubling your speed or having a second connection, you should almost always choose the second connection.
A modern business without the internet is at a standstill: no email, no cloud, no remote access and, if the switchboard is VoIP, no phones. The cost of an hour in this state usually far exceeds the price difference between plans.
For redundancy to work, two conditions must be met. Firstly, different operators — two calls from the same operator frequently share the same infrastructure, and drop together. Secondly, different technologies Where possible: fibre as the primary connection and a mobile connection as a backup covers scenarios that two fibre connections do not cover, such as a cable cut in the street.
And the switchover must be automatic and tested. A backup that nobody has ever tested is just an assumption — it is a good idea to simulate a failure once a year, at a scheduled time.
How to size
Instead of choosing based on a round figure, look at what the company does:
- How many simultaneous video calls, at peak. It is the most demanding consumption and the most sensitive to variations.
- How much data is uploaded to the cloud? and during which time slot.
- How many people access it from outside and which systems.
- If there is VoIP telephony — it doesn't require a lot of bandwidth, but it does require priority and stability.
- If there is remotely accessible CCTV, which continuously consumes battery.
When these calculations are done, it is often concluded that the contracted speed is already sufficient and that what is missing is internal network priority management — ensuring that voice and video take priority over a backup. This is configured in the firewall and doesn't cost the operator an extra euro.
What to require in the contract
Five points that distinguish a business connection from a residential one with a company bill:
- Static IP, and more than one if there are published services.
- Contracted repair time, with compensation defined when it is not fulfilled.
- Guaranteed availability, measured and reported.
- Corporate technical support, with escalation and without going through customer services.
- Equipment in transparent mode, so that company firewall handle routing and security instead of the ISP router.
And if the company is moving premises, confirm the cover before to sign the venue contract. Installing fibre in a building that doesn't yet have it can take months and is the longest timeframe of the entire move.
DataRoad sizes and manages connections and enterprise network infrastructure, including operator redundancy and traffic priority for voice and video.
A chat before making a decision
Whether you’re tackling a specific problem, planning a move or simply looking for a second opinion, we always start in the same way: by understanding your situation before making any suggestions. No obligation, no jargon and no catalogues.
