Is there a better small business phone & Internet solution than Wow?
Many people ask us if there is an alternative to Comcast or Wow for small business phones and internet. This question usually comes shortly after they’ve experienced some type of outage. In today’s connected world, when your Internet goes down so does your business. The reality is that no matter how quickly the Internet Service Provider (ISP) responds it won’t seem fast enough.
Are you asking the right question?
We understand the frustration that drives the question for an alternative, but we think it might be the wrong question. Business phones and Internet rely on the infrastructure you see right outside your door. I’m referring to those poles and cables running alongside our roads. It doesn’t take much to create a local outage. An errant driver runs into a pole and you’re down for hours.
Is an Outage a Fluke or Eventuality?
I know what you’re thinking, someone hitting a pole is just a fluke. Let me ask then, are gale force winds in November a fluke or eventuality? Is lightning or ice an eventuality or fluke? I say they are all an eventuality, so why doesn’t your business have a plan?
As I write this, Hurricane Dorian just finished decimating the Bahamas and is now wreaking havoc on the east coast. When you see the news watch carefully to see how people are communicating. You’ll notice that the cellular network is still up, but all landlines are down. Cellular goes down less often and comes back faster when it does go down.
If you’re using Comcast or Wow for small business phone and Internet, you’re reliant on the infrastructure you see right outside your door. It just makes sense to have a failover plan that relies on a different infrastructure.
Mobile Failover is Here and Viable
When 4G arrived about a decade ago, mobile failover started to become a viable alternative for small business phones and Internet. 4G provides enough bandwidth to support most critical systems. It’s likely going to be slower, but you won’t be down completely.
5G Will Make Mobile an Imperative
Next year we’re going to see 5G begin to rollout and business phone and Internet failover will not only be viable but will rapidly become a small business imperative. 5G is going to be significantly faster than 4G. How much faster? Estimates are 10 to 100 times faster than what you’re experiencing today. A file that takes ten minutes to load on 4G will only take 10 seconds on 5G.
If you’re asking the question: What’s a viable alternative for small business phones and Internet to Comcast or Wow, now you know the answer. First, ask yourself why you’re asking the question. Is it because you’re down and don’t have failover? Is it because you really need a replacement? Either way mobile is an alternative you should begin to think about.
