How much bandwidth does your business really need?

When you stop and think about it, every business – big or small – is an online business today. Whether you’re running the corner coffee shop with just a few employees, or a high-tech enterprise with many employees working together digitally in real time, business internet is a critical concern. The more reliable your connectivity, the faster and more efficiently you can get work done.

Although most of us tend to use the word “speed” when talking about internet capabilities, what’s being purchased is bandwidth, which is the amount of data that can be processed at one time.

A highway is a good way to visualize this, with lanes representing bandwidth and automobiles representing data. The more lanes you have, the more traffic you can efficiently handle simultaneously.

Taking this example one step further, five or six-lane highways aren’t needed everywhere. It just depends on the traffic; in some areas, a two-lane highway is all that’s needed to keep traffic moving effectively.

The same is true for your business. While we often think “the more, the better,” there’s no reason for you to be paying for internet capacity you really don’t need. How do you figure out what bandwidth meets the needs of your business? That’s exactly what we’ll take a look at here.

How Internet is Measured and Purchased

There are several factors involved in measuring Internet speed. The most important factors to think about are bandwidth, and upload and download speeds.

Bandwidth, as we’ve already mentioned, is an internet connection’s maximum capacity over a specific amount of time. It’s measured in megabits per second (Mbps). A “bit” is a unit of data and bits-per-second measurements identify how fast your data moves on the internet.

Theoretically, the higher the number of megabits per second, the faster the internet speed. But there’s a lot of other factors that impact internet speed, including the number of people using the network, the size and shape of your office or business, and your company’s overall internet-related activities.

Keep in mind that bandwidth is calculated based on just one device uploading or downloading files at any given time. So, if your bandwidth is 300 Mbps, but two devices are connected to the network, each user is getting a bandwidth of 150 Mpbs.

Obviously, a lot of factors can affect your internet usage. That’s why when evaluating bandwidth, you need to think about what meets your business needs today, as well as for where you plan to be in the future. Here are a few things to think about:

• Number of Employees – The more employees and team members you have using the internet, the more bandwidth you’ll need. Keep in mind your plans for future needs, so you’ll have enough bandwidth for new employees.
• Number of Devices – Just like employees, the number of devices connected to the internet at the same time affects your bandwidth needs. Considering phones, laptops and tablets, most employees today use more than one device.
• Types of Devices – Devices themselves can impact your ability to take full advantage of available bandwidth; old or slow devices may not be able to process all the bandwidth you’re paying for. It a good practice to periodically do an equipment audit to ensure your devices aren’t hindering your productivity.
• Types of Activity – How digitally-active is your business? Do you have remote or hybrid employees, and are you doing a lot of video conferencing? Do you use Microsoft 365, TEAMS, or other cloud-based applications? Are you uploading or downloading large files constantly? What about video or audio streaming? Are you using a VoIP phone system? All these types of activities require much more bandwidth than just sending emails.
• Needs Beyond Employees – Do you have customers who accessing your network via WiFi? What about a waiting room where televised programs are being streamed? Customers have come to expect fast and reliable WiFi, and this should be factored into your bandwidth needs.

Bandwidth Rules of Thumb

Again, it seems like most internet capacity conversations always revolve around faster speeds. And of course, speed matters. But as we’ve explained, not every business needs to be paying for a GIG of bandwidth, or even 100 mg. The sweet spot for most small business is around 50 Mpbs, and small companies that are more technology-based may need between 50 to 100 Mpbs.

Here are some internet bandwidth “rules of thumb,” and the activities they support, so you can see how these applications align with your own business needs:

• 50-75 Mpbs – 5 to 10 employees, basic browsing and email activities, downloading/uploading large files, streaming.
• 100 Mpbs – 10-15 employees, basic browsing and emails, IP/VoIP telephone, light cloud application activity. Just a few simultaneous video calls happening.
• 500 Mpbs – Medium sized offices with 20-30 employees, with average amounts of internet usage; regular access to cloud-based applications, and simultaneous video calls are common.
• 1 Gpbs – Larger offices with 30 or more employees; many devices are connected to the internet, and employees are doing bandwidth-heavy activities such as simultaneous video calls, sending and receiving large files via email or the cloud, and regular, on-going cloud computing.

To summarize, reliable connectivity is critical to the success of every business today. Document access, employee communication, document access, business transactions, remote/hybrid employees, cloud-based applications, WiFi, and more all play a role in your bandwidth needs. And for these reasons, there isn’t a “one size fits all” answer.

The challenge is to make sure you have enough internet capacity for current – and future – business connectivity requirements, while at the same time not buying for multiple “lanes” of bandwidth that you’ll never need or use. All it takes is a little due diligence to find the bandwidth “sweet spot” that’s perfect for your business’ needs.

Still unsure how much bandwidth your business needs? Drop me an email at [email protected] and I’ll connect you with a local Cox Business account executive who can help you evaluate your internet needs, and determine what level of bandwidth offers the best value to your business and your employees.