Internet Line - What is it?

In today’s business environment, the most important tool for a small business—and the first one installed—is the Internet line. Without it, most businesses would be completely lost; and in the case of the increasing number of businesses that exist only in the online world with no physical office, the Internet line is a lifeline.

But when a small business is getting organized and the boss says, “let’s put in an Internet line right away,” there are a lot of decisions to make. An Internet line isn’t just a basic commodity, like electricity—it comes in all flavors. To say “I want an Internet line” to a provider is like walking into Baskin-Robbins and saying “I’ll take some ice cream.” And so, the first question you need to ask is whether you want a plain vanilla Internet line in a small cone, or a big, flavorful Internet line sundae with nuts and sprinkles.

What is the Internet line?

There are two factors a business considers in having Internet access in the office, and that is the on-premises computing power and networking ability, and the size of the pipe. Having RAM-heavy computers and a Gigabit Ethernet router is good, but that alone won’t give you fast Internet. It is necessary though, to make sure that once the Internet has reached your office, it gets routed around to all of the staff in an efficient manner. But all those big computers and routers won’t do you any good if you don’t have a big enough pipe.

Think of your Internet service provider as a faucet, and the Internet being cold water. When you turn on that faucet, you can get a little bit of water, or a lot. The same is true with the Internet. If you have for example, a dial-up line, then it’s like being able to turn on the water faucet only a fraction of an inch. You’ll get your glass full, but it’ll take a while. DSL turns on the faucet a little more, cable a bit more still, and with a T1, you’re finally starting to get to where you need to be.

Shared line or dedicated line?

When you’re in your house taking a shower and somebody in the other bathroom flushes the toilet, you may get a blast of cold water. That’s because all users in the same house are sharing access to the same set of pipes. The same thing is true with the Internet, that is, if you have a basic shared connection. Most Internet lines delivered to the home for example, are really shared lines. That doesn’t mean that your neighbor is piggybacking on your service—what it means is that when the Internet service provider implements the “last mile” connection, they split the connection between multiple destinations. You have your own service and pay your own bill, but if all of your neighbors are online at the same time, you may see a slowdown in service. For most ordinary home users however, this type of service is more than adequate.

For small businesses however, which rely on consistent Internet service, a dedicated line is more appropriate. Even for a smaller business or a SOHO company operating out of the owner’s home, basic home Internet service will probably be inadequate. Fortunately, a dedicated, high speed Internet line is not too expensive.

Need to go beyond basic home Internet?

The next step up from basic home use is a fractional T1 line. A T1 line gives you dedicated bandwidth direct from your carrier, which is much more reliable than ordinary home service, and will usually have the advantage of a service level guarantee. The T1 line is very suitable for a small business. It’s more affordable than ever, and it delivers about 1.5Mbps of bandwidth both upstream and downstream. That’s a key difference between regular home service and dedicated business service. Home service will deliver higher upstream (content flowing into your home) than downstream (content flowing out of your home). That’s because home users typically don’t send much out, outside of email and chat programs. Businesses however, may be sending out and collaborating on huge files, taking advantage of web conferencing tools, or even hosting their own email or web server. As such, the downstream bandwidth needs to be much higher than is typically available for an average home broadband connection.

That T1 line actually consists of 24 separate channels—and instead of sharing channels with your neighbors, you get all of them. Some small businesses save money by dedicating half of those channels to their Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) installation—cutting back on the phone bill as well as getting access to quality high-speed Internet. If your business just has two or three employees and your Web surfing needs aren’t that high, then you may be able to get by quite well with a fractional T1—which still gives you the reliability of the dedicated T1 line at a reduced cost. On the other hand, you can bond together multiple T1s if your business is larger.

Home-based Internet service providers specialize in servicing the needs of people who surf the Web from home. If you’re running a business, you need to look beyond these offerings, and get quotes from companies that are dedicated to providing small business-oriented solutions. Some of the same companies that offer home Internet connectivity also offer business-specific solutions; on the other hand, there are many providers which deal exclusively in business solutions. Compare prices and service offerings, and talk with these providers about what you need.

Your business provider may also be able to deliver services that you would not be able to access with standard home-based service as well. Most business providers of Internet lines will offer a package deal that may include not only the service, but all the equipment you need, as well as VoIP connectivity.

SOHO and small businesses today have a great advantage, and need not be limited by inadequate Internet access and Internet lines that are meant only for home use. Your service provider will be able to provide you with a size-appropriate package at a reasonable price that will be surprisingly affordable.