As a business owner, you need to make sure that you have all that you require to complete your operations. In the modern world, a key part of this endeavour will always be your internet connection. Is the speed of your broadband letting you down? This is one area of your business that you need to regularly test to ensure that you are always getting a good speed and service.
How do you check the speed of your broadband?
Checking the speed of your broadband could not be simpler. All you have to do is find the relevant tool. From it, you should be able to gather a full report of both your download and upload speeds.
A good broadband speed checker will be able to get your results to you in a matter of minutes. Build a check into your regular monthly computer maintenance. From there, you will be able to track the speed of your broadband – and make adjustments to your network if needed.
So, what are some of the reasons as to why it is critical to regularly check the speed of your broadband?
Devices
Firstly, it is near-impossible to have a low-tech office nowadays. Nearly everyone will have multiple devices that need to connect to your network. When it comes to your employees, this will often be a smartphone and a laptop or desktop as an absolute minimum. This adds up to a lot of devices that need to use your network and each one connected will slow the connection.
On top of this are other devices your business might make use of such as printers. Many devices nowadays connect to a Wi-Fi network in some way. To avoid too much of a drain and a drop in performance, you need to make sure that you regularly test your broadband speed.
Cloud Computing
In addition to the number of devices that we use in our offices nowadays, we also need to remember the difference in how we use these devices. Many operations now take place online through web-based tools and applications. There are also plenty of cloud-based solutions that a company will opt to use, whether this is a tool to aid an operation or online storage where they might share data.
A good internet speed is necessary to access all of these. Should you have a poorer connection, you might be left waiting for some time while something downloads or the cloud software decides to open. If you are to maintain productivity and efficiency within your office, you need to be certain that you have the internet speed to do so. Regular testing should help you to maintain this factor.
Video conferencing
Video conferencing software has become incredibly popular across the last decade or so. Rather than get together for meetings in-person, it is now often more convenient for parties to come together over the internet.
However, you need a stable connection to be able to do so. A meeting can become quite seriously disrupted if someone drops in and out, freezes, or is unable to adequately communicate with everyone else. Remember – everyone else in the office will have to continue working while you are on your call. This is all added stress on your internet connection, and so you have to make sure that your broadband speed can handle it.
With regular monitoring, you should be able to notice when a dip in the speed of your broadband occurs. This will let you know that your video conferencing abilities will be compromised. It also might be worth it to run a test while your video conferencing software is active so you can see how much it affects the speed of your broadband overall.
What to do if the speed of your broadband dips
Should your tests show that the speed of your broadband has dipped in some way, there are several things that you can do to try to bring it up again. It could be as simple as introducing some boosters to create a mesh network in your office, or upgrading your router to a newer model. However, it is also important to consider that your business might have upgrown its current broadband package, and it might be time to move to a higher tier.
If you have noticed a drop in your broadband speed recently, get in touch with Omnitel for help to bring it back up again. Our experts will be able to assess your current network and why the drop might be occurring. Once established, we will be able to make recommendations tailored to your business needs, whatever they might be. A good broadband speed is a crucial part of many companies, and you can’t let yours fall below par.
