Choosing the best internet plan for your business

Businesses are undergoing digital transformations that will enable them to find new competitive edges. They’re finding efficiencies, entering new markets, innovating, or all of the above. Your transformation may mean new applications that use higher bandwidth. You may be adding voice to your data connection. Maybe you need to deliver rich experiences to customers who want to ”try out” your products virtually before buying, or to employees who can benefit from enhanced training experiences. And if you’ve adopted Internet of Things (IoT) technologies, there’s a significant increase in both the number of devices connected and the amount of data traveling over your internet connection.

All these scenarios need high-speed business internet connections to transfer large amounts of data in real time. What’s the right internet connection for your business?  The question can seem overwhelming. We want to help you understand your options and make the right choice. To start, take a good look at how you use the internet today. Think carefully about your needs in the future. You’ll be in a great position to evaluate the options and make an informed decision.

Speed and reliability are givens, but how fast do you want to go and how crucial is your connection to your business? These are distinctions you’ll want to think about carefully.

Dedicated internet offers a range of speeds up to a terabyte per second. Because this connection is not shared, providers have more control and can offer performance guarantees. AT&T Dedicated Internet delivers 100% uptime with very low latency and jitter. It also has symmetrical upload and download speeds. That’s critical on the manufacturing floor or in the operating room where robotics might perform intricate operations or sensors monitor precise variables in temperature.

Business fiber also offers ultra-fast speeds and symmetry with low latency and jitter. It may be a more cost-effective choice for businesses that don’t need the security and service level guarantees that dedicated internet offers. Think about a law firm or engineering consulting business. They need reliable connections for day-to-day operations, large file transfers, and high-quality video conferencing.

Since business fiber is delivered over a physical fiber optic connection, it may need to be installed. The good news is that AT&T Fiber is the fastest growing fiber internet in America¹, now delivering up to 5 Gigs of speed. Nationwide, more than 10 million business customer locations are on or within 1,000 feet of our fiber. So chances are, there’s already a connection ready for you.

Wireless broadband is a good choice for getting a connection up and running quickly. You can switch to fiber later, and use your wireless broadband connection as a backup, or failover, connection. It’s also good for remote locations.

Imagine a restaurant that wants to grow its business by putting food trucks on the road to festivals or other pop-up locations. They’ll need a connection for ordering, payment processing, social media, and more. A construction site could use wireless broadband to connect workers, suppliers, and site managers or to monitor connected devices. The connection can even be moved to a new site later.

As your business needs evolve, your internet connection should keep pace. We’re always looking for ways to make speeds faster, connections more reliable and secure, and capacity larger. So, if you haven’t evaluated your internet connection lately, now is a great time to do so.

Download the infographic  for help evaluating your options and learn more about our business internet solutions.
 

¹Based on publicly available data of net customer adds for major fiber providers over previous four quarters.