“Choosing an internet provider for my small business is no different than choosing one for my house.” This is what I first thought when I was about to launch my marketing agency with a bunch of my friends.
Well, it wasn’t easy, not to mention the first six months when we switched two internet providers and wasted several hundred dollars on contract terminations. Finally, we settled down to Cox Internet, which was a more reliable, cheaper, and faster connection. Besides this, as we had Latin roots, Cox servicio al client was a major amenity for us as we could communicate with their customer support in Spanish like a breeze.
Anyways, if you’re looking to get an internet connection for your business, you’ve landed on the right article. Here, I will offer the invaluable experience that I gained after making a lot of mistakes. So, let’s start:
Type of Connection
It’s vital to consider what sort of internet connection you want. If you’re living in a rural area, going for satellite internet may be the only reliable option. Speeds may not be as good as fiber or cable internet, but satellite internet is the best when it comes to reliability in rural areas.
However, if you belong to a city or urban area, you may find a fiber internet connection. It’s the best connection when it comes to internet speeds offered. However, fiber internet usually costs more and has limited availability.
Cable internet is another option you have. In terms of availability and price, cable internet is far better than fiber internet. However, cable internet does not offer asymmetrical speeds like fiber internet.
That being said, you should opt for a connection that is best suited to your needs. If you want faster speed, fiber internet is the way to go. But, if you want a cheaper but reliable connection, then hardly any connection comes closer to cable internet.
Internet Security
Most small business owners like us think that hackers/bad actors won’t attack or steal our data. Simply because we run a small business and there’s nothing much to hide anyway. However, every business has vital data, for instance, proposals, invoices, customer details, and more, which hackers may steal.
Be it on a cloud server or device, the internet plays a key role in securing your data. Your chosen internet connection should offer strong security protocols to protect your data. Plus, it must swiftly inform you about potential viruses lurking around the internet.
Also, it’s best if you find affordable IT providers, offering advanced security features to ensure maximum protection of your data.
A Quality Customer Support
Sometimes, even the most reliable internet connection slows down. And from a user’s point of view, there’s nothing much we can do except to inquire about the slow down, right? But, if the customer service we’re inquiring from is as clueless as we are, then I don’t believe there is any other way except for the service to get restored.
This is why I believe quality customer support is a must that swiftly resolves your issues. Be it a downgrade of services, internet unavailability, or just contacting them to get more information, quality customer support will help resolve queries without wasting a minute.
Scalability
What will you do if your internet needs increase in the future? What if you expand your business or team, and your ISP doesn’t offer a better plan? Would you again change your ISP? And look for better plans with another ISP that suffice your needs? Well, I believe you don’t need to go through such an ordeal again if you make the correct choice in the first place.
Whichever ISP you choose, ensure that it offers flexible plans that you can switch to if needed. Also, make sure they easily let customers upgrade or downgrade to other plans without charging any fee.
Bonus Suggestion: Read the Terms and Conditions
My former ISP always charged a hidden fee on every bill. However, it wasn’t really hidden because they had clearly stated in the contract that they would charge an “infrastructure fee” to improve their services.
I believe it’s best if you read the terms and conditions before signing up for any ISP. Simply because you may know if your ISP would charge a hidden fee. Plus, reading the terms and conditions may also help you understand their data practices and policies.