Today, businesses are using more cloud-based software, and internet activity is rising, especially in 2020. This surge requires a reliable connection. In March, Forbes reported that internet usage had increased by 70%.
This increase has been seen around the world. People are shopping online, holding video meetings, streaming, using online databases, and more. As of now, there are no signs of the trend slowing down. This has caused businesses to need a faster, reliable internet connection.
There are a few different ways to increase internet capabilities. Two of these include bonded internet and failover internet. In this article, we’ll look at the ins and outs of each and decide which one suits your business the best.
What is bonded internet?
Bonded internet is just as it sounds. It’s multiple internet connections bonded together. This creates a stronger, more reliable connection. You can think of a regular internet connection as a single lane road, and a bonded connection is an eight-lane freeway.
Instead of relying on one connection from one internet service provider (ISP), a bonded connection can use multiple connections. The increased bandwidth boosts the speed of your connection and enables you to handle more traffic.
How does it work?
Bonded internet uses simple hardware and software to connect your devices to multiple internet connections. Configuring your internet can be intimidating, especially if you don’t have an IT team.
But internet bonding doesn’t need to be a headache, and you don’t need to be a tech wiz. The Diggio bonded internet is a simple piece of hardware that plugs into your firewall and into your internet modems. The rest happens automatically, so there’s no need to reconfigure your internet or network settings.
When the software detects that a single internet provider slows down or cuts out, your connection won’t be interrupted. Instead, your connection will rely on the providers that are still running.
Benefits of internet bonding
- No downtime: Internet downtime can be a disaster for your business. Even short connection interruptions can cause dropped calls, frustrated customers, and lost sales. Bonded internet ensures that you’ll have 100% uptime.
- Roaming IP address: Some internet services switch IP addresses when one goes down. This can cause problems if you’re using a site-to-site VPN or hosting a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) call.
- Stronger connection: The bonded internet algorithms use the full potential of your bandwidth. This means your connection will be faster and more reliable. Employees will be more productive and no longer need to deal with the bottleneck of slow internet.
What is failover internet?
Failover internet is a backup if one internet connection fails. Failover is a solution that restores your internet quickly if there’s a connection failure.
The downside to failover internet is the fact that the connection may get interrupted. If your device loses connection, it will need to reconnect to the backup server. Bonded internet is already connected to multiple sources, so you’ll never notice when a single connection is lost.
How does it work?
Failover works differently from internet bonding, but they have the same goal: keeping your internet connection working. When one connection fails, it automatically fails over to another connection. Usually, the failover connection is an LTE connection that’s separate from the primary wide area network (WAN).
In most cases, the failover isn’t designed to be a primary connection or a long-term solution, and is therefore much slower than your primary internet. When the primary connection fails, the software will send an alert that the connection was lost and needs to be addressed.
If we compare this to driving, you can think of failover as switching lanes if the lane you’re driving in is blocked off. The switch happens quickly, but it’s more noticeable than bonded internet. You may have experienced this when your phone is connected to WiFi. If the WiFi modem loses connection to the service provider, or you walk out of range, your phone will automatically switch back to using your cellular network. You might lose your connection, but it’s back within seconds.
Benefits of failover internet
- You don’t need to take action when your internet goes down. You might experience a short interruption depending on the setup, but your connection will switch to the backup network and be re-established.
- Internet failover is a safety net: You won’t experience long downtimes and can get back to work immediately after the primary connection fails.
- It’s a less expensive solution compared to bonded internet.
Setup
Failover and bonded internet will require some setup, software, and hardware. Most companies that offer these solutions make implementing it easy. They will either send someone from their team to help with setup or send you everything you need along with instructions.
The process will vary depending on the solution you choose and your current office setup.
Do you need an IT team? These solutions are designed to improve your internet without adding another thing to your plate. Once everything is installed and working correctly, you shouldn’t need to do much to maintain it. The SD-WAN bonded internet that Diggio provides is the simplest solution available. All you need to do is plug in the hardware, and you’re all set.
Cost
The costs of upgrading your internet connection will vary depending on your specific needs. The cost for a 50 person company will be much different than a 250-person company. That said, plans typically start at $250/month.
Slow, unreliable internet connections cost businesses money. Lost connections happen regardless of your internet service provider. They’re simply part of life. But they hurt your sales and your employee productivity—no internet means no work. So, investing in bonded internet should be viewed as an investment with an associated ROI.
Reliability
Is bonded internet more reliable than failover? Both solutions will provide your business with a solution that reduces your internet downtime.
Overall, a bonded internet connection will be faster, more stable, and more reliable. This is because a bonded connection is using multiple connections simultaneously.
Final thoughts
Reliable internet isn’t just nice to have. In today’s world, it’s a necessity.
A bonded internet solution is a simple way to improve your business activities. A stable and fast connection improves your customer’s experience and keeps your team online and working.
