McIntyre says iiNet shapes network speed rather than financially penalising the client, and will address requests on a case-by-case basis.
“We are always having customers that are calling us and saying that they are just about to be shaped, is there any chance we can do anything for them?” McIntyre says. “We are looking at trying to put a product together that will actually give the customer the option to buy more quota as required.”
Shaping can be especially painful if the company runs its website or hosts other important services from its own server. Some providers will only slow the speed of downstream performance (from the internet into the computer), leaving upstream performance untouched.
The download cap is also important when thinking about next-generation services such as voice-over-internet-protocol telephony (also referred to as VoIP, or internet telephony), which allows users to make free or cheap phone calls across the internet. According to McIntyre, VoIP has become a primary driver for the adoption of broadband amongst SMEs.
”In the SME and SOHO sector there are huge savings that can be made through VOIP,” McIntyre says.
But these calls can also chew up the data allocation.
There are a wide range of technologies available with which companies can get connected, each with its own peculiarities in terms of speed and convenience. Larger companies will opt for dedicated fibre links and so-called ‘leased lines’, but these options are generally too costly for SMEs.
Most business services today are offered using a technology called DSL (digital subscriber line), which comes in various flavours. The most common is ADSL, where the ‘A’ stands for asynchronous, meaning that the downstream speed (from the internet to the user) is much faster than the upstream feed. Faster speeds can be achieved with a technology called ADSL 2+. Should any of the proposed next-generation networks be built, these will most likely use a faster technology again, called VDSL, to link to end users.
ADSL is common today, but can cause issues if you plan on hosting information on your computer and then accessing it from a remote location, as the upstream to the internet will be much slower than the downstream speed.
Most DSL services require the user to also have a phone line, although McIntyre says an increasingly popular option is so-called naked DSL, where the customer purchases the broadband link only. He says this is perfect for businesses that will use VoIP or their mobile phones as their primary means of communication.
Mobile broadband technologies are also becoming increasingly popular. Numerous companies now offer city-wide wireless broadband networks with speeds of greater than 1 Mbit/sec across metropolitan areas. First into the market were Personal Broadband Australia and Unwired Australia, but now the main telecommunications carriers have entered the market using their 3G networks and a technology called HSDPA (high speed downlink packet access).
These services differ from so-called WiFi services in that they work similarly to mobile phone networks and are available over very wide areas. They are designed primarily for personal use, requiring either a special card or USB modem to be attached to the user’s computer. Some services use a more powerful modem which can connect be shared among several users.
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