The internet isn't what it used to be in the 90's. Back then, it was a luxury, and service providers charged a premium even for basic services. Nowadays, the internet isn't just commonplace, it's also a necessity in people's lives and businesses. In the midst of all this, the technology associated with internet access has also improved.
Expectations have risen greatly due to these changes. Whether you need the internet for your home or business, there are a few things you shouldn't compromise on.
High Speeds
The volume of content you access on the internet every day can be very high. If your local internet providers are only able to provide the content at a low speed, there is a lot you're losing. For starters, you'll lose time waiting for content to load.
Secondly, you may have to sacrifice on the quality of the content you're accessing, e.g. videos. If you need the internet for services such as VoIP or video chatting, you can forget about all that if your speeds are low. There are far too many alternatives available for you to settle on less bandwidth than you need.
Uptime
If your VoIP phone systems or ability to stream videos are a vital part of your business, every minute you're not connected to the internet could cost you money. ISP outages used to be common in the past, but a lot has changed since then.
Any respectable internet service provider should be able to guarantee at least 99% uptime in a year. This means that you shouldn't lack internet services for more than 87.6 hours, total, in a year. There are ISPs who can even guarantee 99.999% uptime.
Affordability
High-quality internet services will always cost you a bit more. However, operating costs for ISPs have gone down significantly over the years. This has helped to make internet access more affordable. Even the best quality of connections, e.g. those based on fiber optic technology, are more cost-effective.
However, there are still service providers who charge a lot for their services. A common reason behind this is that the ISP still relies on relatively old technology. If you feel you're paying too much for internet services, or you simply haven't seen what other companies are charging, this is a good time to do some research. You might be surprised to learn there are cheaper alternatives with higher bandwidth. This can save you a lot of money.
Share5 June 2018
Working from home has opened many doors for me and forced me to learn new things that I previously had no interest in before. Over the ten years that I have been working from home, I have learned a whole lot about internet service providers. I learned what to look for in a good provider, how to maximize the speed of the service that I receive and how to get the best possible price for the service I need to do my job. My site is loaded with tips and advice to help other people get the most from their internet service provider.