It is a question a lot of people ask, and there are a lot of variables associated, but the boffins at NodeOne got their heads together to see if we could come up with a simple guide to help you choose the “right” speed for your business.
A good start is checking what you have currently and testing to see the actual speeds you are getting. You can check the speed you’re receiving here.
It’s a good idea to test this at different times of the day, and test on both your Wifi and wired connections. Using a wired connection will give you a more consistent and accurate result.
The next step is to look at how you are using your internet and how that may have changed recently. The way we work has changed a lot over the past few years and certainly over the past few months. Many people have embraced the #wfh. This change in our work environment has reduced the strain on the office connection and placed a large amount of strain on the home internet (See our 6 Tips for Working from Home blog). This move has resulted in a more mobile workforce, reliant more than ever upon video communications and collaboration applications in the cloud. As we are pushing a lot more data into the network, there is more of a demand for upload speeds rather than the typical download speeds most people talk about.
However, as we slowly start to move back towards working from the office again, the flexibility of being able to accommodate a more mobile workforce will place different demands upon your business Internet service.
- Will you be using videoconferencing from your office a lot more to communicate with your staff?
- Will you be running webinars to communicate with your customers?
- Have you moved a lot of your applications to the cloud?
- Is your telephone system now hosted in the cloud?
All of this makes it sound as if you need to have the largest internet service available, but is that the reality? We have tried to take all this information and apply a common-sense approach to help businesses understand what they may need, whilst at the same time ensuring they are not paying for something they don’t.
Therefore, we have looked at the most common speeds being used by our customers and suggested the ideal business type/scenario for those speeds.
The NodeOne Guide to Business Internet Speeds
| Internet speed (download/upload) | Number of connected users/devices | Who’s it for? |
| 25/10 Mbps $110pm inc. GST | 1 to 3 | For the small office or home office using basic Wi-Fi, business communication tools and some VoIP calls |
| 50/30 Mbps $120pm inc. GST | 3 to 10 | This is ideal for most small offices using business communication tools, numerous POS transactions and VoIP calls |
| 100/50Mbps $140pm inc. GST | 5 to 15 | This is ideal for smaller offices using occasional Video conferencing, frequent file sharing, using a VoIP system with numerous POS transactions. |
| 100/100 Mbps $150pm inc. GST | 10 to 25 | This would be for slightly larger offices using cloud computing (e.g. CRM and accounting software), using a VoIP system with video conferencing, and data backups in the evening |
| 250/100 Mbps $200pm inc. GST | 10 to 40 | This speed would suit most SME offices using frequent cloud computing, video conferencing, a VoIP system and data backups in the evening |
| 300/300Mbps+ $300pm inc. GST | 30+ | These speeds are for those companies with larger numbers of staff or reliant upon a high-speed symmetrical service for CAD applications or GIS services |
As businesses move into the higher speeds and beyond, it’s important to work with your IT expert and your Service Provider to understand the demands on your network, the equipment you are using for your LAN and certainly the ability of your router to handle the larger symmetrical speeds. All of these can have a large impact on whether you can utilise the benefits of these higher speeds.
If you would like further information on this topic, please give our business team a call on 1300 184 414. Alternatively, head to https://nodeone.com.au/business-internet-plans/ and see our range of business plans and information.
