Does my business need dedicated internet or broadband?

The internet has become such an important part of modern business that many organizations couldn’t function productively without it. That means when you’re deciding on the type of internet connectivity your business needs, it’s important to compare your internet options with the way your business operates.

Two main connectivity options for businesses are broadband and dedicated internet.

What is Broadband Internet for Business?

Many people are already familiar with broadband connectivity because it’s what they have at home. Broadband Internet for Business delivers data at high-speed transfer rates, which works well for uploading and downloading files, making voice calls using VoIP solutions (like RingCentral), hosting video conferences, and implementing SIP trunking. It’s also widely available in many places.

The important characteristic is that business broadband is shared connectivity. That means you share a broadband connection with nearby users, and when lots of users are active, bandwidth can suffer.

What is Dedicated Internet?

Dedicated Internet Access (DIA) is high-speed connectivity dedicated specifically to your business. This means it’s not only unshared, it typically comes with service guarantees such as bandwidth minimums and symmetrical speeds (which means the upload and download speeds are the same).

Dedicated internet is usually created with businesses in mind, so it can come with more business-oriented advantages as well. SLAs (service level agreements) not only detail specific performance standards, like speed and uptime, but also things like mean time to repair (MTTR) so you know how long it will take for your DIA service to be restored in the event of an outage.

How Can You Choose between Broadband and Dedicated Internet?

While cost is an important factor in any business decision, choosing between broadband and dedicated internet can be boiled down to three key questions:

1. How critical is it for your business to have uninterrupted internet service?

If your business relies on cloud applications or internet connectivity on a minute-to-minute basis (think phone calls, order placing, and point-of-sale transactions), dedicated internet could be the right choice. If you occasionally use the internet to check email, broadband might be the right fit.

2. How well can your business operate if shared connectivity slows during peak times?

While outages can feel like a once-in-a-while inconvenience, broadband slowdowns can happen daily. What’s your business’s tolerance for slow or dropped connectivity? Would you notice it if it happened daily, and how would it impact your operations? If so, consider dedicated internet. If you can weather the slowdowns, broadband may be the better option.

3. How much downtime can you manage if an internet outage occurs?

Finally, if an outage occurs, how many hours can your business be without internet? Dedicated internet’s MTTR may guarantee that your connectivity can be restored within a four-hour window, for example. But broadband doesn’t come with those guarantees. What’s a better choice for your business?

Better Connectivity, Better Business

Choosing between broadband and dedicated internet is an important choice for your business. Weighing your business needs against connectivity service features can help you pick the best internet service to keep your business moving forward.

Learn more about how Frontier Dedicated Internet Access keeps your business connected and thriving.