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The System Is Down: How To Stay Online When Your Service Provider Is Offline

September 12th, 2017 by admin

It's easy to take a functional Internet connection for granted until it's no longer working. When that Internet connection inevitably goes down, your business could be left scrambling to figure out how to keep working until service is restored. The best solution your business can utilize is to develop an advance plan or an Internet outage backup plan for business continuity in the event of an Internet outage.

Purchase a Secondary Service

The safest and most reliable strategy your business can rely upon to work around Internet outages is to purchase a secondary Internet service. This service doesn't need to be as high-speed as your main connection and it should be viewed as a safety net. The transition process can be as straight-forward as switching which modem connects to the office router.

Additionally, your business should invest in a different backup connection technology than your main connection; if your main connection comes from cable, try considering a DSL or T-line. If your business runs on a fiber service, your secondary platform can be from a cable provider. However, the secondary provider option may not be the most cost-effective solution for businesses with fewer than two-dozen employees.

Go Mobile (Internet) for an Internet Outage Backup Plan

Mobile Internet connections are another viable continuity option for smaller businesses: a tethered smartphone or mobile hotspot can work as a backup. The mobile option works well for smaller businesses and remote-employees. After all, mobile connections aren't as fast and can lead to substantial data charges for businesses moving large amounts of data, so it's not a good option if your business needs to move large files. Your corporation can also look outside of the cellular service providers for dedicated 3G/4G/LTE-based ISPs as an alternative secondary service option.

Nearby ISP Hotspots

If your company works out of a large office building with many nearby businesses you may be able to lean on your neighbors for some extra backup. Some ISPs offer Wi-Fi hotspots over all their rented modems. Then, if your business is on Verizon DSL and experiences an outage, you can use your home subscription to connect to a nearby Xfinity hotspot.

Hit the Street

Stylized icons that indicate free WiFi is available

If your employees need to get back online to handle immediate work, your company's last line of defense is to lean on public Wi-Fi. You can find these hotspots at local libraries, cafés, coffee shops, and other storefronts. However, this comes with some major potential security risks; your employees shouldn't come to rely on it with extremely confidential information.

One such risk is that it's very common for hackers to set up "spoof" hotspots that resemble business hotspots, but are actually designed to steal your information. In other words, you have to make sure local hotspots are legitimate before using them. Keep a list of nearby secure Wi-Fi hotspots your employees can use in the event of an Internet outage. It's of the utmost importance that this list is devised in advance because there are inherent risks in using another business's Internet connection.

Never let an Internet outage keep your company from working: formulate an advanced backup plan so that your vital staff can keep working. If your company is looking for help developing an outage plan, the IT consulting experts at ATS can help. Contact us today!

Posted in: Managed IT Services, Solutions