Internet Bandwidth: What It Is & Why It’s Important

Written by Ana Boechat

When designing a commercial structure, ensuring you have the appropriate internet bandwidth is essential. When you want your customers and clients to have a comfortable browsing experience, exactly how much bandwidth is needed should be a primary discussion.

Even though your company may have invested in the fastest internet available, many users and internet sessions will severely throttle your internet speeds without the appropriate bandwidth.

Before explaining this, let us first understand internet bandwidth and its relation to the commercial sector.

What is Internet Bandwidth?

In its simplest form, internet bandwidth is the amount of data that can be uploaded or downloaded at a given time.

Internet use is a fluid exchange of information between a server and a user. The point at which your device accesses the broader internet is your internet modem. This device is responsible for transferring data from the internet at the request of your device.

Each internet plan allots internet use for customers of an Internet Service Provider (ISP). Information is exchanged using photons and electrons. While data itself seems uninhibited by physical laws, the reverse is true. The amount of data that can traverse to and from the internet is limited by the physical capabilities of the hardware used to exchange that information.

For internet access, this means that there is a finite amount of space available for internet usage at any given time. Your internet speed may be top of the line, but the more devices you have accessing the internet through your modem, the more that speed is distributed across the devices. The result is a slow internet connection across the board.

For locations that serve a lot of devices on their network, the answer is not necessarily to increase your speed but to improve your bandwidth.

How to Get More Internet Bandwidth

There are a few ways a commercial building could improve its bandwidth. These include:

Router Upgrades
Modem Upgrades
Reposition Hardware
Bandwidth on Demand

Upgrade Your Router

Most internet users will be accessing the internet through Wi-Fi. Wi-Fi is most often provided using a wireless-capable router that divides your internet connection into multiple sessions across multiple devices.

Instaling an advanced router with higher capacity, like a duel-bandwidth router, can give internet users better access to the internet already being supplied. Your router should be upgraded every few years and replaced with better technology to facilitate faster and more abundant internet sessions.

Although the capabilities of this technology have not changed or depreciated too much when compared to other locations and their relative speed, the connection can seem slow. Many old routers use outdated technology to connect wireless devices together. These old technologies can make a comparatively poor connection, one that you could improve with better hardware.

Upgrade Your Modem

If your internet plan can theoretically allow you to connect with speeds nearing 1,000 Mbps, but you rarely see speeds more than 80 Mbps, you may need to upgrade your modem.

Your modem is responsible for connecting your devices to the internet itself. A low-capacity modem will be limited by its components in providing faster connection speeds. Upgrading your modem can give you the bandwidth necessary to reach the download/upload speeds of your ISP and service plan.

However, suppose your service plan doesn’t stipulate you have access to faster internet speeds. In that case, no amount of hardware upgrades will help you accomplish obtaining speeds beyond what your plan has already specified.

Repositioning Your Hardware

If you have state-of-the-art equipment but still do not have the kind of internet connection you want, the reason may be that your hardware is inaccessible.

Radio waves can penetrate almost everything. But unfortunately, they still have limits. Most internet hardware uses weak radio signals to communicate. Physical obstructions and distance can inhibit these weaker radio signals.

Relocating your internet hardware, specifically your wi-fi router, into a centralized or more open location can help internet users have the signal necessary to support faster internet speeds.

Bandwidth on Demand

Some locations, especially commercial ones, will have times and seasons of greater activity than others. For example, many retail stores will experience more business in the months of November and December as customers are getting ready for the upcoming holiday season.

For cases such as this, having a larger broadband capacity isn’t necessary for more than a couple of months out of the year.

Many ISPs offer bandwidth on demand. At times of the year when you are expecting more internet-using customers than usual, striking a deal with your ISP can help you get the internet capacity you need for your customer’s needs.

The Difference Between Commercial and Residential Internet

Residential and business internet services differ in price and services included. Residential internet is often less expensive but has slower speeds and lower priority with customer service.

Internet services provided to businesses in commercial settings are often faster and more flexible with how much web traffic can be handled. ISPs often have different bandwidth options for businesses, customizing their needs to each business’s requirements.

Internet Bandwidth Solutions for Commercial Locations

As a business, you want the best for your customers. When you offer internet connectivity as a service, it is often because comfort is a big part of your business model. Cheap internet with low bandwidth likely hurts customer approval.

If you need to install or upgrade your internet to remain competitive and provide additional comfort, try Groove technology solutions. Our team has decades of experience helping businesses provide their customers with top-of-the-line internet connectivity.

When running a business, the satisfaction of your customers is at the forefront of all your actions. The growing dependence on good internet connection is becoming more important for overall satisfaction. Don’t let slow speeds and narrow bandwidth keep you from providing high customer satisfaction.