What is it with broadband and stuff?

We, along with a lot of other comms related stuff, provide broadband to businesses. We all know what broadband is and we all know why access to the internet is so important. (Also infuriating banal and so on but that's a tale for another day). If you do NOT know about this then PM me the postcode of your cave or the rock you're living beneath and I will gladly install some for you!

Anyway back to the issue at hand... It is interesting that everyone wants higher and higher speed internet, at lower and lower cost AND for it never to go wrong. Sadly dear reader you cannot have it all ways. "Cheap" and "good" are generally mutually exclusive concepts. "Good value for money" and "good", that's a different case of course. We have been looking into the experiences both of our customers (prior to joining us) and others and the following things came out.

When broadband fails it takes about a week to ten days in many cases to get a fix. Sometimes less but sometimes also even longer. I don't get it! If your internet breaks it is usually either the line/bearer that has a problem or the provider's POP (point of presence) We all (cave and rock dwellers aside) have become accustomed to the vagaries of BT service but every line we fit comes with heightened support which means whatever rat has gnawed, duct has flooded or unhelpful digging machine has sundered, the line is fixed by midnight the day after reporting (unless you leave it REALLY late in the day and usually even then!) So that leaves the POP. Well I can access ours from my mobile phone (if I really have to) and we have some pretty dedicated nerds on the books who live for this stuff so - again - it's a same day/next day fix (unless you haven't paid your bill of course in which case it'll STAY slow so there!) So what this means is, if you lose service overnight and report it as soon as you arrive you are still losing a maximum two days. Hmmmmmmmm. Two days is good but it is not as good as NO days right? Which is why as standard now we fit a 4G capable router. Into this you fit a PAYG or contract data only SIM. In the event your broadband gets eaten (maybe by the people living in caves and under rocks perhaps?) you either see an immediate speeding up of your internet or a screen asking you to top up your SIM. Down time? Lets allow time to fetch your wallet from the car.. ten minutes? Even I can live with that! Yes we are more expensive than a domestic product but not by that much when you realise that without internet your business is slowly dying. Yes I have seen the ads and BT will send you a 4G modem - if you ask nicely - but it will take days to arrive and by that time our broadband will already be working again. DAFT!

So what else? Oh yes. I have a serious decaff coffee habit. Hence I am on first name terms with the guys and girls at my local Starbucks (other brands are available). Indeed I have been known to sit and work there whilst filling my system with entirely innapppropriate levels of completely non wake-me-up coffee. Do I use their WiFi? Hell no! Firstly it's really not that great and secondly anyone with half a brain (caves and rocks again) is able to see what I send and rceive with consummate ease. Banking, emails, access codes to company data and even [shudder] our telephone exchanges.

Virtually every smart phone out there has a hotspot built in, and data packages are peanuts. SO USE IT! That way your service is probably quicker and no unhygienic (do cave dwellers have bathrooms I wonder?) third party is going to hack your stuff. For those working from home, if your employer has not set you up with a VPN to the office (assuming you need access to stuff there), ask them to. It's simple!

Lastly the observant will have spotted I said internet speeds up if you have a 4G backup. That's because 4G is usually much faster than broadband. The trouble is traditionally 4G is expensive as it is charged by volume. NOT ANY MORE. It is easy to get an unlimited data bundle on a data only SIM for the same or less than a broadband and attendant line rental. Do be careful though as I have seen several "deals" where they restrict speed to 2Meg on that. If you want to get fast AND unlimited then let me know. It will be with you in 24/48 hours! (as long as your cave has a postcode!)

On a serious note; do take care while working off site. WiFi is radio and radio can be listened in on. Especially the seductively free networks offered for public use. If you want an internet which is fast, well priced and reliable or just some pragmatic straight-forward advice, give us a call.

03300883202