What Is Dedicated Internet Access and Is It Right for Your Business

Not all internet access is created equal. For example, personal web browsing and streaming suffers little consequence if you share your internet connection with your neighbors. But if your company’s services require internet for mission-critical applications such as video conferencing, chatting, or your business network hosts dozens of users, splitting your internet bandwidth can undermine your productivity.

For reserved bandwidth accessible by only your company’s network, Internet Service Providers (ISPs) have created a specific service level agreement for dedicated internet access (DIA) that provides guaranteed high-speed and uninterrupted internet connectivity for your business.

What Is Dedicated Internet Access?

To best understand how DIA works you must first understand how shared internet service works. Internet speed for shared users is based on the total bandwidth of their connection divided by the number networks on that connection.

Think of bandwidth as the number of lanes on a highway. Just like a highway where you go faster when there are fewer cars or when there are more lanes, your internet speed (as a subscriber to shared internet access) depends on the total bandwidth of your connection (how many lanes) divided by the number networks (cars) at any given time.

And just like a highway, there’s rush hour traffic with a shared internet access agreement, where users experience sluggish or nonexistent internet for short periods of time during peak hours. For homes or some small businesses, shared internet service is perfectly acceptable, since downtime from rush hour traffic is an inconvenience but not crucial to the company’s or home’s profitability.

But for businesses where any lag time or downtime in internet service results in real time revenue losses, dedicated internet access agreements are central to the continued profitability of that business.

Benefits of Dedicated Internet Service for Businesses

To calculate whether signing a dedicated internet access agreement is worth the investment, you’ll need to weigh the benefits of a DIA against the literal loss of revenue your company will incur if you don’t upgrade your service agreement with your service provider.

Guaranteed Bandwidth

Unlike with a shared internet access agreement, having a DIA agreement guarantees your network traffic won’t compete for space on a shared information highway. Your ISP guarantees a certain bandwidth is reserved for your company network. With dedicated internet access, your network won’t get stuck in traffic ever again. If your company revenue hinges on uninterrupted internet access, this feature is a game changer for your business.

Matching Upload and Download Speeds

With most shared internet access agreements, your download speeds are significantly faster than your upload speeds because people tend to download more data from the internet than they upload to it—at least on private networks. But for businesses that rely on video conferencing, calling, or chatting services, upload speeds need to be as quick as download speeds to prevent lagging or any delay of service. Dedicated Internet Access ensures your download speeds match your upload speeds around the clock.

More Secure Network

In an age where your business’s cybersecurity equals financial security, safeguarding your network is paramount. With dedicated internet access, you don’t share the road with any other networks which insulate your network against breaches and strengthens your overall cybersecurity. When you don’t have to worry about other networks threatening your network infrastructure you can focus on shoring up your other digital security weak spots.

Better Customer Support from ISPs

With residential or other shared internet access services, it’s not unheard of to wait two to three business days for internet problems to be addressed. But when you upgrade your internet service to dedicated access, your service requests become top priority for your service provider, and your internet problems will typically be addressed in the same business day.

A Dedicated Internet Access agreement is the solution to losing potential customers due to glitchy, slow, or lagging internet. To discover how much you can save by upgrading your internet service agreement to dedicated access, contact a customer representative with Frontier Business for a hassle-free quote.