What Is Business Grade Internet?

Super-fast, exceptionally reliable internet is pivotal to modern business.

Conversely, slow, patchy, and unreliable internet will lead to frustrated employees, worsening productivity, and costly downtime.

Yet, not all internet connections are equal. Businesses depend on high-quality business grade internet that delivers excellent performance with virtually nil downtime.

This blog investigates the features and qualities of true business grade internet.

What Determines Business Grade?

In simple terms, business grade internet is designed for demanding business workloads.
These vary from industry to industry, with most businesses requiring reliable internet connections for multiple employees and devices at a minimum.

Larger businesses might require support for numerous Wi-Fi users and devices, from printers and scanners to wireless machinery or even IoT devices.

Here are the core features of business grade internet:

Symmetric Bandwidth

Symmetric bandwidth elevates business-quality internet above standard commercial and residential internet services. It ensures high-quality upload and download speeds.

In simple terms, symmetric bandwidth enables relatively equal data speeds for both uploading and downloading.

To put that in context, while a standard home connection might offer 100Mbps download speed and a much lesser 10Mbps upload speed, a business grade connection would provide 100Mbps for both uploading and downloading.

Symmetric bandwidth is ideal for businesses that handle data-heavy transfers and workloads, particularly those requiring uploading large files. This could be anything from uploading large media files to running data backups to the cloud or conducting high-definition video conferencing.

Service Level Agreements

Service level agreements (SLAs) ensure the internet provider’s commitment to ensuring uninterrupted internet access and swift support during outages or other unforeseen issues.

High-quality business internet providers offer line uptime of 99.99%, meaning the maximum cumulative downtime over a year should be roughly 53 minutes.

Further, SLAs define the resolution time for any technical issues, generally promising fixes within a few hours as opposed to the 1 to 3 days typical of standard services (and that’s being optimistic).

Contention Ratios

Contention ratios are the third pillar of robust business internet. In essence, a contention ratio represents the number of users sharing the same data capacity.

For example, a contention ratio of 20:1 means up to 20 users could share the same bandwidth at any given time. This is much lower than for residential connections, ensuring lower traffic and higher, more consistent connection speeds. The lower the contention ratio, the fewer people are sharing the connection.

Moreover, this protects internet connections against heavy traffic during peak usage times, ensuring that business operations remain unaffected by the internet usage patterns of others connected to the same network.

Advantages Of Business Grade Internet

With the above features in mind, what are the primary advantages of business grade internet?

Reliability: Robust internet connections help guarantee an always-on service, which is crucial for maintaining seamless operations and avoiding downtime. With an uptime of around 99.99%, the increased reliability of business internet is among its greatest advantages.
Speed: Super-fast full-fibre internet means rapid file transfers, speedy loading times, and uninterrupted video conferencing. Superior connection speeds boost improved productivity and operational efficiency. Additionally, fast, reliable internet connections are satisfying for employees.
Lower contention ratios: With fewer users competing for data capacity, businesses tap into consistent performance even during peak usage. No need to worry about interrupted operations due to high demand on the network.
Enhanced security: Business internet offers superior security, helping protect businesses against cybercrime and fraud.

Why You Should Invest in Business Grade Internet

Superior internet is no longer a luxury for businesses – it’s a necessity.

High-quality internet has become non-negotiable as businesses look to digitise their workflows and tap into new workflows.

Investing in high-quality internet means consistent speeds, excellent reliability, unparalleled uptime and access to on-demand support with rapid turnaround times in the event of unforeseen issues.

When you invest in business grade internet, you're also investing in:

Performance: Say goodbye to sluggish, cumbersome internet speeds and intermittent connections. Quality connections effectively end unplanned downtime, ensuring business continuity throughout the year.
Scalability: As businesses grow, their internet demands change and evolve. Business-grade internet services grow with businesses, delivering flexibility and scalability.
Security: Protect valuable business data with advanced security features that come standard with secure, robust internet.
Reputation: A reliable internet connection enhances your reputation with clients, customers and other users.

In the end, investing in high-quality internet can pay off quickly in today's digital business landscape.

High Quality Business Grade Connectivity With Glide

At Glide, we understand what it takes to build fast, robust and secure business internet systems.

Our business grade internet packages are designed to help your business stay connected and gain a competitive edge.

With symmetric bandwidth, SLAs and advantageous contention ratios, internet by Glide delivers the speed and reliability your business needs to grow and thrive.