For small businesses, having a fast, reliable Internet connection is needed to run all the digital tools that your staff has come to depend on. If you don’t have the bandwidth in place, you can deal with bottlenecks that can ruin communications, stall productivity, and cause operational issues of all types. Today, we’ll take a look at how to determine the amount of bandwidth you need to support your business’ computing infrastructure.

Bandwidth Defined

Bandwidth is one of those terms that you think you understand until you try to explain it to someone else. Basically, bandwidth is how fast data can be transferred through a medium. In the case of the Internet, millions of bits need to be transferred from the web to network attached devices every second. The more bandwidth you have access to, the more data can be transferred. 

Speed vs Throughput

Network speed--that is, how fast you are able to send and receive data--is typically a combination of available bandwidth and a measure called latency. The higher a network’s latency, the slower the network is going to be, even on high-bandwidth network connections. Latency can come from many parts of the network connection: slow hardware, inefficient data packing, wireless connections, and others. 

Throughput is the measure of the amount of data that is transmitted through a connection. Also called payload rate, this is the effective ability for any data to be transmitted through a connection. So, while bandwidth is the presumed amount of data any connection can transfer, throughput is the amount of data that is actually transferred through the connection. The disparity in the two factors can come from several places, but typically the latency of the transmitting sources results in throughput being quite a bit less than the bandwidth. 

What Do You Need Bandwidth For?

The best way to describe this is to first consider how much data your business sends and receives. How many devices are transferring data? Is it just text files? Are there graphics and videos? Do you stream media? Do you host your website? Do you use any cloud-based platforms? Do you use video conferencing or any other hosted communications platform? All of these questions (and a few not mentioned) have to be asked so that your business can operate as intended. 

First, you need to calculate how many devices will connect to your network at the same time. Next, you need to consider the services that are being used. These can include:

• Data backup
• Cloud services
• Email
• File Sharing
• Messaging
• Online browsing
• Social Media
• Streaming audio
• Streaming video
• Interactive webinars
• Uploads (files, images, video)
• Video conferencing
• Voice over Internet Protocol
• Wi-Fi demands

...and more

After considering all the uses, you then need to take a hard look at what required bandwidth is needed for all of those tasks. Obviously, if you lean on your VoIP system, or you are constantly doing video webinars, you will need to factor those operational decisions into your bandwidth decision making. 

Finally, once you’ve pinpointed all the devices and tasks, the bandwidth each task takes, and how many people on your network do those tasks, you total up the traffic estimate. Can you make a realistic estimate with this information?  Depending on your business’ size and network traffic, you may not be able to get a workable figure. 

Too Much or Not Enough

Paying for too little bandwidth is a major problem, but so is paying for too much. Bandwidth, while more affordable than ever before, is still pretty expensive, and if you pay for too much bandwidth, you are wasting capital that you can never get back. 

That’s where the professionals come in. Coleman Technologies has knowledgeable technicians that can assess your bandwidth usage and work with your ISP to get you the right amount for your business’ usage. If you would like more information about bandwidth, its role in your business, or how to get the right amount for your needs, call us today at (604) 513-9428.

You Don’t Have Enough Bandwidth

When you purchase an Internet package, you get certain speeds. Today, these speeds are faster than ever, but if your business has too much going on, it can wreak havoc with your Internet speeds. There is a situation that happens when too much data is trying to pass through a network connection. This situation is called bottlenecking and it is potentially the reason your speeds are slow. Think about it, if you try to put several gigabytes through a connection that is only rated for a few megabits per second, it’s going to take some time to get all the data through. To check this, audit how many devices are at work. Most of the time you’ll be surprised how much data you are sending and receiving. We can help you with this audit before you make the call to upgrade your Internet package.

Outdated Equipment

Another potential issue is that your networking equipment may simply be old and not be able to use the dual bands that are often necessary to get the most out of your wireless network. If you have enough bandwidth, but your Internet is just slow, chances are upgrading the modem, switches, or routers would be a prudent move and will likely fix any problems you have. 

Misconfigured Equipment and Environmental Factors

Once you’ve made sure that the physical components of your network are working as intended, but your Internet connection isn’t improving, you probably need to reconfigure your software on your devices or move your hardware to avoid interference. Specifically, if your wireless network signal is having problems making it through obstructions, you will want to consider using the 2.4 GHz connection rather than the 5.0 GHz channel. The max speed you’ll see will decrease, but the 2.4 GHz connection makes its way through obstructions better. Unfortunately, however, the 2.4 GHz signal can be a victim of electronic interference more than the 5.0 GHz channel. 

If you need help with your business’ networking, don’t wait and lose more money. Contact the professionals at Coleman Technologies today at (604) 513-9428.

Fiber optic cable is a network cable that contains small strains of glass fiber. Those glass strains are covered by an insulated casing. They transmit data through light. They are often not much thicker than a human hair. They are made up of the core, which is the pathway for light to travel. The core is surrounded by a layer of glass called cladding that keeps light in via reflection to avoid signal loss and keep transmissions true as the wire bends. 

Since the transmission of light is so fast, data can travel long distances quickly.  These cables provide higher bandwidth and can maintain the integrity of data transmission over long distances. Today, this technology supports much of the world’s Internet, cable television, and telephone systems. Their main benefits include:

• Higher capacity data - The amount of data that a fiber optic cable can carry exceeds that of traditional copper cable. Fiber cables are rated at 10 Gbps, 40 Gbps, and 100 Gbps. 
• Longer Distances - Since light travels for much longer distances without losing strength, there is less need for signal boosters. 
• Less Interference - Copper cables require shielding to protect it from electromagnetic interference, but this shielding doesn’t always work. The physical makeup of fiber optic cables works to avoid this outside interference. 

Most fiber optic cable is installed to run long-distance connections, there are some Internet providers that roll out fiber optics for direct access to customers. They are deployed the following ways:

• Fiber to the Premises (FTTP) - Fiber that is laid to support the use of media services to residential buildings.
• Fiber to the Building (FTTB) - Also called Fiber to the Block or Fiber to the Business - This is fiber optic cable that supports commercial buildings.
• Fiber to the Curb of Node (FTTC/N) - This is fiber cable that is laid to the node, while copper wires complete connections to customers.
• Direct fiber - Fiber that leaves the central hub and is attached directly to a customer. Some of the most expensive network cabling on the market. 
• Shared fiber - Much like direct fiber, but at the end it’s split up to other customers. 

Deploying fiber optic cable to your place of business is possible, but it is extraordinarily expensive. Due to the mounting costs associated with it, it may not be an option unless your provider is rolling out new infrastructure. 

If you would like to learn more about the technology your business uses, and what kind of effect it can have on your business, return to our blog regularly.