Is your business stuck in the slow lane?

With a greater reliance on data, email and the internet, businesses are becoming more aware of the damage that a slow or unreliable broadband connection can cause. Every online task takes longer and this costs your business in wasted time.

If you multiply even a few minutes wasted every day by the total number of employees and take this across a whole year the case for faster broadband is made! Far from costing you more each month it is actually saving you money when wastage is factored in.

Could FTTC improve your broadband speed?

There are several options when looking for faster broadband for your business. One of the latest ones is called FTTC - fibre to the cabinet. You will probably already know this product as BT Infinity with its much advertised TV commercials aimed at consumers.

This product is based on BTs rollout of fibre optic cabling which allows greater amounts of data to go further than traditional copper lines. The fibre takes the data from the exchange to your local "cabinet" and then it travels the short distance to your premises over copper lines. More fibre and less copper means increased speeds - up to 40mb download and 10mb upload.

Where your business is based determines whether you can access this product and what speeds you are likely to receive. However BT are working hard to bring this new fibre network nationwide so if it's not available to you now it could be in the very near future.

For the latest availability and pricing on FTTC please contact us.

Even faster business broadband!

Businesses looking for faster speeds or guaranteed services will be more interested in EFM (Ethernet First Mile) and leased lines. These services provide private lines (ie. not shared with other customers) and download and upload speeds are agreed in advance.

Obviously these Ethernet services are more expensive, and they also require advanced installation, whereas FTTC can be implemented quickly as it uses your current copper lines for the last hop.

For a full assessment of the services available to your business together with their associated costs please contact us.

Posted in: Broadband , Data Solutions , EFM - Ethernet First Mile , Ethernet , FTTC , Solutions , Technology

For businesses that rely upon data, a strong internet connection is a must. This should be reliable, and fast enough to serve all of their users with spare capacity for busy times.

Standard ADSL business broadband can offer this for some customers, but for others it is not up to the job. The next step up in connectivity is EFM - Ethernet First Mile.

This is a dedicated internet connection, meaning that no-one else is sharing the bandwidth. The speed you get is guaranteed and is symmetrical - meaning you can upload as fast as download. This makes it ideal for VoIP telephony and video, for instance.

We offer EFM with speeds ranging from 1MBps through to 20MBps. The speed you can actually receive is determined by the distance from your local exchange. Contact us for an accurate assessment.

Data is carried by multiple copper pairs from the exchange into your premises. If one of the copper lines fails temporarily the others share the load to keep you connected.

We can also provide fibre leased lines with faster speeds, although these are more expensive and there is a longer installation time. EFM can typically be up and running within 30 days.

EFM is more reliable than standard broadband and our service is actively managed. This means that we provide a pre-configured EFM router to you and are notified of any issues with your line immediately. The SLAs on EFM lines are much quicker than for standard broadband so any downtime will be minimal (we can also provide failover options to eliminate downtime if required).

EFM can be included as part of a total data solution for larger businesses, connecting multiple sites. We can tailor a package for you that meets your requirements and budget.

So if your current broadband is too slow or unreliable you should consider EFM - the cost is coming down and is now within the reach of many small and medium sized businesses. Contact us for a free review of you data connectivity and a cost/benefit analysis.

Articles about EFM:

What is EFM?

Posted in: Broadband , Data Solutions , EFM - Ethernet First Mile , Ethernet , Hosted Solutions , Solutions