It is important to go digital in the current business practices and this has been one of the most profound learnings for many businesses during the pandemic. Many businesses are currently relying on many online services to deliver their products and services. When the internet has become so important, one might wonder what is a reliable internet speed. The internet speed that a business requires depends primarily on the number of people who are using that internet connection and the type of tasks that needs to be performed using the internet and of course, how big or small the business really is.
While determining the requirement of the internet speed, one needs to ask the amount of bandwidth that one needs, the types of files that the users will be downloading and uploading, whether the network will be used for one or multiple locations and the type of software that one will be running.
Why do small businesses require a high internet speed?
It is important for small businesses to have high internet speed for many reasons. However, the primary reason is that a high internet ensures that the work is carried out in an extremely streamless manner by eliminating buffering, lagging issues, wait time and connection blackout. You can check the current internet speed on Speed Test. With such benefits of a good internet speed, it becomes easier to scale the business and in addition to that, it also provides flexibility to the users by ensuring that the task is carried out within the stipulated period of time. This contributes to increasing the overall productivity of the business by increasing the productivity of the employees. An enhanced internet speed has both direct and indirect benefits.
Download speed vs upload speed
While considering the internet speed, the user also needs to take care of the download speed and the upload speed and generally, these speeds are nearly the same for most internet service providers. The download speed refers to the rate at which the data is transferred from the internet to the device and the upload speed refers to the rate at which the data is transferred from the device to the internet. You can check the download and upload speed on Telkom. On the basis of the requirement, the download and upload speed requirement will differ.
What is the recommended internet speed for a small business?
The download internet speed of 5 Mbps is sufficient for one or two devices to carry out tasks like online browsing, researching and doing basic stuff like sending and receiving emails. A download speed of 25 Mbps is recommended if the number of devices that need the connection is 3 to 5 and requires downloading large files and for business communication. 75 Mbps downloading speed is recommended for video streaming, file sharing and POS transaction for 5 to 10 devices. For small businesses that require frequent cloud computing, data backups and video conferencing with 10 to 15 employees, 150 Mbps is a reasonable downloading internet speed. For server hosting and seamless streaming involving 15 to 20 people, a downloading internet speed of 250 Mbps is reasonable. It is recommended to have 500 Mbps downloading internet speed for 20 to 30 employees for functions like cloud-based computing, multi-server hosting and heavy online backups. However, if you have a small business with more than 30 employees, you should go for 1000 Mbps for performing tasks like extreme speed operating processes.
In addition to finding a suitable internet speed for your small business, it is also recommended to consider the bandwidth that is required. It needs to be noted that bandwidth also affects the internet speed but there is a difference between the two. If the bandwidth is low, the user will be able to send fewer data at one time even if the internet speed is high. Therefore, there needs to be a perfect balance between the bandwidth and the internet speed for your small business requirement.
You should consider shifting to a higher internet speed only if you are facing lagging issues or connection issues with the current internet speed. However, if you are doing well with the current internet speed, there is really no requirement to change it. Also, before upgrading the internet speed, please check whether you are getting the internet speed that you are paying for.
