Regional connectivity challenges: We’re local, so we get it

You’d think the days of poor internet connectivity would be over, right? Sadly, that’s far from the case, especially around here. Even families who live just 15 kilometres from urban Orange can have little (or no) luck connecting to the outside world.

The NSW Government cites ‘poor mobile and slow internet coverage as two of the biggest issues faced by people living in regional and remote NSW’. It expresses concern about the impact of no connectivity, especially in all too familiar catastrophic emergencies like the 2019-20 Black Summer Bushfires and the 2022 NSW Floods.

The NSW Digital Connectivity Index further highlights the disparity in connectivity (both in terms of access and affordability). By entering your address, you can find out how you score in terms of having a passable internet service that enables ‘meaningful digital activities like working, video conferencing, and accessing telehealth’.

Poor connectivity is a true business killer. Slow or erratic speeds impact your team’s productivity (whether in the office or working remotely) and ability to deliver to deadline. It’s also a morale dampener when your users, unable to access their cloud-based applications or documents, get increasingly frustrated, demotivated, and downright grumpy.

And, of course, it’s bad news when it comes to customers, too – with slow or no support, lagging website loading, or tardy transaction speeds sending their satisfaction levels plummeting.

A fast and reliable network is as essential as a good coffee machine or on-site bathroom access. No business can operate efficiently without either.

National Broadband Network (NBN) is an Australian government-funded national broadband network operator that provides internet through a network of fibre optic cables using light pulses. It’s known for delivering consistent service across each speed tier. You can choose from (or we can advise you as to the most suitable offering):

1. NBN Standard and 4G – Don’t need super-speed connectivity? Either Standard or 4G NBN offers sufficient up-time and speed to keep most Joe Average businesses happily humming along at a reasonable price.
2. NBN Business Fibre – Need a bit more? NBN Business Fibre runs on business-grade fibre (funnily enough) to your premises or the curb via a shared node. It’s powered by a high-performance fibre network and delivers a high speed of close to 1Gnps and 99.5% network availability.
3. NBN Enterprise Ethernet (EE) – Standard and 4G – EE could be for you if you have very high uptime requirements. Ignore the word ‘enterprise’ in the name – NBN EE is actually available to businesses of all sizes, with bandwidth profiles from 10Mbps up to 1000Mbps (1Gbps) and no 4G LTE data costs. With EE, you have your own node and a dedicated amount of bandwidth. What this means in plain language is that even when there’s high network traffic, your connectivity speed isn’t impacted. It comes with 4G LTE backup or failover (more on failover a bit further down), which can be up and running in blisteringly fast time with the same public static IP address.

Starlink delivers broadband internet via the world’s first and largest satellite constellation, using a low Earth orbit. This low-orbit network results in a shorter round-trip data time than most satellite internet services, so latency is significantly lower. Since being introduced to Australia in 2021, Starlink has signed up 120,000 local customers.

If you need connectivity in rural and remote areas, Starlink’s advanced satellite network makes them a fantastic partner. And the service comes with 4G seamless failover.

We’re glad you asked because this is a biggie (in a good way).

The reality is that no matter who you choose as a provider and how fantastic they are, there’s always a chance that something could go wrong – nothing is failsafe. From local roading contractors digging up cables, flooding, fire, a plague of hungry locusts, or just good old componentry failure – suddenly, you’re offline, and everything is down. And there are tears of rage, frustration, and concern.

But never fear – seamless failover is here!

What this means is that we set up your network to automatically and seamlessly switch across to a reliable backup system. Then, if disaster does strike your core system, the impact is minimal at worst or eliminated at best. Your Colton team can do this for any of the services listed above and for 4G as well. Within seconds, you’re back up and running as though virtually nothing happened.

We’re local, too, so we ‘get’ the connectivity issues in our region. We also get how important it is to your organisation, people, customers, and community that you’re always on and always available. That’s why we’ve invested in becoming your connectivity and failover experts.

Give us a call.