Indy Business: How Much Bandwidth?
Indy Business: How Much Bandwidth Do I Need?
It’s 2019 and people are using more internet than ever before, so one of the questions we get asked a lot is: “How much speed or bandwidth does my business really need?”
The answer to that question is not going to be the same for everyone, of course. Some businesses and offices are going to use more bandwidth than others, and if you have surveillance cameras or business VoIP traffic, that will only increase your network traffic.
Let’s take a look at some different considerations that can help you predict what speeds you’ll need.
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NECESSARY SERVICES
There are still small businesses who mainly browse the web and use email, but that is becoming increasingly rare. For most businesses, they will need to do some kind of file sharing; they will subscribe to a cloud backup service; they will do occasional video conferencing; and their computers will need to download regular security updates for operating systems and applications. Each of these can and will increase the amount of bandwidth needed at any given moment.
The good news is that there is quick and dirty equation we can use to estimate bandwidth usage. But we want to stress that this isn’t perfect and many businesses may need more internet because of their network load. Still, it should get you in the ballpark of what’s acceptable for 2019.
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A QUICK CALCULATION
For today’s needs we think a good rule of thumb is to start with at least 10 Mbps and add five more Mbps for each user. So for a business with 10 employees who all have IP phones, smartphones, and some kind of work computer, you would want at least 60 Mbps. Again, this is not guaranteed to work for everyone. Some businesses will not need that much, and some will need more.
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WHAT ELSE CAN I DO?
If you still aren’t sure how much bandwidth you need, we actually suggest going a little low to start out. The big cable and phone companies will be glad to upgrade your service if necessary, but they’re not always as willing to downgrade unfortunately.
You can also contact us to help determine your internet needs. We’ve helped a lot of businesses optimize their bandwidth strategies, and our business phone service can be configured to work with almost any internet connection. Thanks for taking the time to read our thoughts, and we hope to hear from you!
