Choosing the Correct Internet Service Provider

Finding the correct business internet provider is a pretty major decision these days. Considering almost all businesses interact with the internet in some way if not all day long. From credit card transactions to phone calls or online SaaS applications; the internet is a necessity.

There are several great options out there for internet providers, along with types of technologies to use. We will discuss a few of both in this blog article. We hope to help any people that are having a hard time, make a choice for their business class broadband service.

Types of Internet Service

DSL – Otherwise known as a Digital Subscriber Line, DSL technology has been around for quite a while. It is a highly reliable form of internet service but doesn’t offer nearly the speeds of cable or fiber internet. Typically a business can get service around a few hundred kilobytes upload and download all the way up to around 5 megabytes per second. That is a service normally available to far out locations that are not next to an urban environment. Those speeds are usually good for a person or two doing normal web surfing or emails but not streaming or music. DSL is typically brought into the office with a phone line and converted to an internet signal with a modem.

Cable – Internet over existing cable tv lines or coaxial cable is provided by local cable tv companies. This is a very fast form of internet service. In some cases, they can deliver 1000Mb of speed for download. Upload speeds can sometimes be much slower, especially for businesses. In a residential setting, the upload speeds usually match the download speeds. In a business environment, they don’t want you having fast upload speeds unless you pay for it. So a high upload speed connection will definitely cost you. Although, this service is available in most urban areas and even many rural areas as well. For a standard package, it is priced very well.

Fiber – Internet over fiber is about the best possible way to have internet delivered to your business (when available). Fiber directly to your closet is a much harder type of service to acquire when far away from urban areas. Although, when located in an urban sprawl, this type of service is usually available in most areas. Fiber internet is highly reliable, extremely fast and normally priced pretty well for packages. There are ISP’s out there that provide up to 1000Mb up and download speed for a hefty price but wow is it worth it!

‍

Area of Service

Choosing an internet provider can sometimes be cut down to where you are located. Most providers only service certain areas. Normally in Dallas/Fort Worth, if you are located near downtown then you are able to get AT&T or Spectrum Business Internet service. Out in the suburbs of DFW, such as Irving, Lewisville, Mckinney, Euless, Arlington or others like Grand Prairie; you are able to get all 3 of the major providers. That would include the 2 above along with Verizon in certain areas. In some cases, you can also find CenturyLink in some areas of North Texas.

Reliability and Customer Service

There are many factors in rating a good business ISP but very few will top reliability and customer service. Reliability is in essence, keeping the lights on. Just kidding. In reality, it is the service staying on and always providing fast speeds. In DFW, we are pretty blessed because we have fiber optic cables to almost any area in Dallas or the surrounding cities. Fiber is highly reliable and rarely goes down in this neck of the woods. We suggest having fiber pulled into your network room or closet and not skipping past this for other forms of service. That is just our recommendation and we stick by it.

For those times when the service is experiencing problems or slowdowns, having a great customer service company on your side is an excellent choice. In our particular experience, most of all the providers have really stepped up their game in servicing the internet connections quickly when they have problems. Working with a local IT service provider can help be the middleman between the ISP and your business to pad this problem. You will never have to face the customer serivce phone lines again when having an MSP or master service partnerhelp you. Take a look at MyTGroup Master Service Partners of Dallas or even Vergent in Deep Ellum. Either one can help with this problem.

Choosing the Correct Speed Package

We have listed below, links to packages offered for business broadband in Dallas/Fort Worth and beyond. Make sure to get a package that has a high upload speed as well if you are doing things like VoIP or cloud monitored security cameras. You will need the quick upload speeds to stream out the video from your location. Otherwise, here are the latest links for business class broadband.

AT&T https://www.att.com/smallbusiness/explore/internet.html

Spectrum Business Class https://business.spectrum.com/

Verizon Business Internet https://www.verizon.com/business/products/fios-internet/

Conclusion

While there is a range of great options for ISP’s, we say that in DFW you are very safe with any option that brings fiber to the building. Data centers are a great option for providing this service. We also recommend contacting a local Dallas MSP if you are having trouble deciding. Try running review searches on Google for your local providers and see how they perform for your area if not in Texas.