(Internet) Pipes of Peace – Broadband resiliency 

Spreading the load and the risk of Internet outages

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“Look at our new Broadband; it’s very fast and all our Internet traffic goes through it no problem.”

Says the excited MD to his Staff, as they use that bandwidth for Email, Web and Cloud applications. This is a Fibre-to-the-Premises Broadband (FTTP), which recently replaced a Fibre-to-the Cabinet (FTTC) connection that was slower.

Meanwhile, round the corner, a new building is being constructed . . .

How a Simple Digging Error Brought Business to a Standstill

At 11am a digger driver starts to dig a trench and despite having been given a map of all the services underground, he snags a hitherto unknown cable that connects between the nearby BT Street cabinet and the telephone exchange. Back in the Office, the excited MD suddenly finds his Staff are unable to Email, Web or use Cloud applications.

Calls from the MD to their IT Support reveal the damage to the cable, and that the whole area is down (several hundred homes and businesses). BT are investigating, and after a couple of hours it is reported that the cabinet was also damaged, and it will take 7 days to replace everything and get the Services online again for everyone.

Now, let’s pause this little drama a moment . . .

The Importance of Internet Resiliency

Remote Work Isn’t Always the Solution

In 2024 we all know that people can work from home; and so the MD could send everyone home to work. In this instance, there are several uses who use PCs or have systems that require a PC or machine to be on-site (e.g. to control some machinery).

IT Support’s Recommendation for Resiliency

When the new FTTP was installed, the IT Support recommended having some resiliency. Putting a new multi-connection Router in, keeping the FTTC and also adding a 3rd option of 4G Broadband as belt-and-braces should the local Street cabinet have an issue.

Cost-Cutting Decisions Lead to Vulnerability

The MD decided he would save money by keeping the existing Router and terminate the FTTC. As for the 4G, well that’s just a cost for something that’s dormant 99% of the time.

And we press ‘play’ again…

Prepare for the Unexpected: Ensuring Continuous Connectivity

Emergency Solutions Come at a Cost

The MD calls the IT Support to get an emergency connection up-and-running. They say they can do this, and that they need to prepare a Router that takes 4G and provide a SIM card and data plan that has enough to cope with the amount of data usage until the FTTP is fixed. All this takes time that stops the MD’s business working.

Let Target IT Handle Your Connectivity Needs

IT Companies like us do work miracles to get customers out of situations; however it needs some forward thinking to avoid the situation in the first place. As more and more services rely on Internet connectivity (which now includes Voice-over-IP Telephony), being able to ‘failover’ to another connection whilst the primary one is down means businesses continue to work and don’t have to pause the business and lose money (and lose face).

Talk to use about Internet resiliency and how we can help keep connections running – 01202 538488

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