Regardless of what business you’re running, Internet speed has a big impact on your productivity and customer experience. Slow Wi-Fi can cause things like delayed transactions and lagging video calls, which would be a frustration for everyone involved.
Even though it may not seem like a lot of time lost in the moment, it does add up over time. And the result? Productivity dwindles and customer opportunities could be lost.
For small businesses, this could be the difference between growing and expanding or hitting a wall. Which is why optimising Internet performance is so important from the start.
8 Ways To Optimise Internet Performance For Small Businesses
Fortunately, getting your Internet performing optimally doesn’t require exorbitant costs or for you to be a tech expert. In fact, there are several practical strategies that you can implement to keep your connection fast and secure.
1. Examine Current Internet Speed And Your Needs
Before you can improve on your Internet’s performance, you need to know what you’re working with. You can use a free online tool to check your current speed to see both your upload and download speeds, as well as latency.
You can then determine your company’s Internet usage based on how many employees need connectivity and if you use a lot of bandwidth-heavy apps like video calling.
If you know what you needs are, you can pick the right plan without overpaying for speeds that you don’t actually need.
2. Upgrade Your Hardware
Hardware, like your router or modem, plays a big part in your Internet’s performance. If your hardware is outdated, it won’t be able to handle your data demands. As a general rule of thumb, if it’s three or four years old, it’s time for a replacement.
Also check that your router is placed centrally in your office, preferably as high as possible, and away from any walls or microwaves that could interfere with the signal’s strength.
3. Optimise The Layout Of Your Network
If you have too many devices connected at once, the Internet traffic will become too congested. To avoid this, you should ideally plan the layout of your network.
You can use an Ethernet connection for devices that stay in one place, like computers and printers. These are faster and typically more reliable than Wi-Fi. You can then keep the Wi-Fi for smartphones and laptops.
4. Use QoS To Prioritise Traffic
If you’re on a video call which is lagging because another employee is downloading a large file, you probably aren’t making use of Quality of Service (QoS) settings.
These are designed to prioritise Internet traffic to make sure that the apps who need more bandwidth actually get it. Just by QoS, you can improve the quality of your performance without even upgrading your existing plan.
5. Secure The Network
In some cases, your slow connection could be due to outside users using your Wi-Fi without your knowledge.
To prevent this, use a strong password and preferably change it regularly. You can also create guest networks for those who visit your office temporarily so that they can’t actually use your main network.
There is even network monitoring software available that you can use to alert if you if any strange activity takes place on your network.
6. Manage Your Cloud-Based Apps
Most businesses will use cloud-based applications like Google Drive or Dropbox. These are great to use, of course, but when they sync files in the background, they consume a huge amount of bandwidth.
What you can do is schedule back-ups and syncs to happen outside of work hours and close apps if you aren’t actively using them.
7. Use A Dedicated Business Internet Plan
It’s common for small businesses to use residential Internet plans because they appear to be more affordable, but these are drastically different when it comes to performance and reliability.
On the other hand, business plans give you higher upload speeds and dedicated customer support. It may cost a bit more, but it’s a smarter long-term investment.
8. Use A Backup Connection
Even if you have the top of the range Internet plan, you’re not entirely immune to downtime every now and then. These things happen so it’s best to always be prepared for them.
To stay connected at all times, you can set up a secondary Internet connection with another provider. So if your main line had to go down, you have a backup in place.
It does sound technical or costly but the truth is, it can save you a lot of hassles and stress down the line if downtime does happen.
