Slowness in businesses almost always comes from the upload channel. A second line from another provider is worth more than doubling the speed.
More than 10 workstations · support contract · remote, on-site and phone support
For decision-makers short on time.
An hour without internet leaves a company without email, without cloud, without remote access and, with VoIP, without a phone. That cost is rarely solved with a faster plan. Business internet that does not fail rests on three decisions: enough upload, a second connection from another operator and a contract with a static IP and an SLA. This guide shows how to decide with data, not with the number in the advert.
Almost always because of the upload direction. Video calls, cloud backups, folder sync, remote workers' access and VoIP calls all use the same sending channel.
On a highly asymmetric line, that channel fills up while the download figure still looks great on the speed test. Users feel the slowdown, but the congestion exists in one direction only.
The most common pattern: online meetings get worse every day at the same time. It is the time when backups upload to the cloud. The cure is to prioritise voice and video and reschedule the backups, without touching the speed.
A second line, in almost every case. The loss from one outage quickly exceeds the difference in monthly fee between plans.
| Rule | Why |
|---|---|
| Different operators | Two lines from the same operator often share the same infrastructure and fail at the same time |
| Different technologies | Primary fibre and mobile backup survive a cable cut in the street; two fibres may not |
| Automatic failover | Nobody should have to swap cables when the line goes down |
| Annual test | An untested backup is a hypothesis; simulate the failure at an agreed time |
By real use at peak time, not by a round number.
The calculation often shows that the current speed is enough. What is missing is quality of service on the internal network, configured on the firewall, so voice and video jump ahead of backups. It costs nothing extra from the operator.
Moving office? Check fibre coverage before signing the lease. Bringing fibre to a building without it can take months and is often the longest lead time of the entire move.
DataRoad sizes and manages connections and business network infrastructure: redundancy across operators, automatic failover and traffic priority for voice and video. Request a no-commitment proposal.
More than 10 workstations · support contract · remote, on-site and telephone support. Call +351 211 459 950 * or write to sales@dataroad.pt.
*Call to a Portuguese landline.
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