5 Suggestions when Moving your Business Internet Connection

Moving your company location?

A frustrating event in a business operation. So many things to plan and organize. In this day and age, moving your high speed Internet connection should be top of your list. Your business relies on it, and any outages can cause mayhem and lost business. Here, then, are 5 sugestions when moving your business internet connection:

1 Can I get high speed Internet at my new location?

This one seems so obvious it’s almost laughable, but you’d be surprised how many areas are under-served by high speed internet and the only alternatives are very slow and very expensive. In fact, this is the one reason that the IT department should be consulted before even considering a move.

If speed and cost  are important, contact Skyway West before signing the lease. We resell every technology (ADSL, Cable, fixed wireless, fibre and T1) so one phone call will answer all your questions.  If you rely on ADSL or cable, and they are  not available, your choice may be between a slow and very expensive T1,  or if you are lucky, expensive fixed wireless. Moving a fibre connection takes three to four months and can cost $10,000 to $15,000 to install outside the downtown core.

2 Should I upgrade or add new Internet capabilities?

People often move because the office is downsizing or expanding. Is it time to increase your upload speed because you are adding more remote users? Is it now critical that the office is never without Internet? If so, now is the time to consider bonding different technologies for more speed and to failover between technologies without losing Internet access. Maybe even taking the big jump in quality and cost to symmetrical Fibre at $895/month.

Are you moving to a VoIP system? Now is the time to consider prioritizing that traffic ahead of others so file transfers and other downloads don’t overwhelm your VoIP calls.

3 Moving is a great time to consider changes in your service

Is it time to switch ADSL to dry dsl or use a different phone line? Maybe change from ADSL to cable or cable to ADSL? ADSL was originally only provided over a regular business line costing $45 to $50/month but now ADSL can be added to a dry dsl line costing $5 or $10 a month. Moving to dry dsl is an easy decision if you are looking for opportunities to reduce phone line costs.

Another way to reduce cost is to move your ADSL service to the fax line because most companies are not converting their fax line to VoIP. Or, alarm line for similar reasons.

Skyway West ADSL and cable are the same price. ADSL is more widely available to businesses than cable. Cable offers faster speeds but ADSL is better for time sensitive data. If you can afford it, best practice is to order both services, split your traffic and configure each service to failover to the other.

4 Make sure telephone lines or cable is installed well before your move

Along with all utilities, there are timelines for processing moves of Internet connections.

If you are moving phone lines, contact provisioning@skywaywest.com to confirm the line isn’t also being used for your ADSL service. Your phone bill won’t tell you. Checking is important because moving to another location or changing the provider of your phone line(s) will disconnect your ADSL service unless you notify your internet provider to also move your ADSL service. Be aware that processing takes a minimum of seven business days. Better to allow 14 business days. Best is to allow 30 business days! Sometimes things happen even with the best laid plans, but early placing of orders gives you better odds that things will go as planned, and allows for lots of time to correct any problems if they arise.

5 Can I avoid a service interruption?

If you’re moving a telephone line used for ADSL, you need to first schedule moving the phone line, then schedule with Skyway West to move your ADSL service. There will be an outage while the phone line and ADSL services move to the new location.

We can, however, avoid an outage by installing a new service at the new location to run in parallel with your current service. Two services is worth considering if the move is going to take more than a day or two, and is attractive to people who prefer moving their servers first, or last. Two services is also a good idea because it lets you test the new service and resolve any problems before you move.

We can assign your static IP addresses to any service we offer. You can install a parallel ADSL or cable service, and when you are ready to move your servers, we remotely move your IP addresses.

Plan well and plan early: follow this advice an we promise — at least as far as your internet connection is concerned — your move will be stress-free.