With ISPs being more competitive than ever, internet speeds for consumers and small businesses are pushing 1 gigabyte as standard. Did you ever think that your network might not be able to keep up with that blazing new speed? It is becoming common to find this very scenario unfolding in the workplace. We have outlined just a few things you might want to consider before making the jump to a faster tier.
- Firewalls often cause a bottleneck for web speeds. Many vendors will market their devices to support a certain number of people or devices, say 200. Even if your office only has 90 devices, this can still slow you down. What some vendors don’t list is throughput ratings. With the processing overhead used by enabling security features such as gateway antivirus, intrusion prevention systems, deep packet inspection, and web filtering, the reality is that your firewall may only support 50 devices. Instead of looking at the devices max user rating, look on the data sheets at the throughput with security features enabled. If you can only process 600mbps then upgrading a 500mbps connection to 1000mbps (gig speeds) will solve absolutely nothing.
- When was the last time you purchased switches for your organization? If it was 10 or 15 years ago, then you already have a bottleneck. Many switches then were 100mbps which is only 1/10 of a gigabit.
- Do you know what standards your wifi network supports? Is it A,G,N, or AC? That might look like alphabet soup, but if you’re looking for the freedom of wifi without being tethered to a network jack for a 1 gigabit connection, then make sure your wireless supports AC. This standard is fairly new, so if your wifi setup is also aging, consider upgrading to Wifi 6 with full support for AC to keep up with today’s standards.
- Unless you keep meticulous records right down to the category of network cable installed at your office (seriously, who would do that?) then you probably don’t know what kind of speed your existing network cables can handle. Cable that was installed in the early to mid 2000s would either be Category 5 or 5e. While this category of network cable is fine for 100mbit networks, there can be the potential for performance issues when trying to run gigabit devices over this type of cable. The veins of your infrastructure should be updated to at least cat6 to support gig speeds and beyond.
- Last, but not least – your computer! There are many things that can cause your computer to be the bottleneck when it comes to your internet speed. Is your operating system up to date? Browser updated and bloat free? How about the drivers for your wireless or network card? If you’re using wifi, does it support the AC wifi standard? It’s always a good idea to check with your manufacturer to make sure you have the latest updates.
These are a few items to keep in mind as you price higher speed internet plans. If you have already made the upgrade but feel you are missing you, you probably are.