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Comparing Business and Residential Internet Services

By April 13, 2022September 11th, 2023No Comments

It’s necessary to compare the differences between residential and commercial internet services. However, people avoid doing so once they see the plethora of jargon they would have to navigate through to appreciate the fundamental distinctions between the two types of internet services.

But worry not. We have dedicated this blog to highlighting the differences between residential and business internet connections so you can choose the one that best suits your needs.

Business Fiber vs. Residential Fiber

Most people assume that business internet connections and residential connections would have no differences as they both are fiber connections. But that is not the case. We have explained a few terms which would help you identify the difference between the two.

SLA (Service Level Agreement)

Business internet comes with a service level agreement that stipulates bandwidth, uptime, and other parameters based on your requirements. It also offers MTTR (mean time to repair), ensuring that any on-site repairs are handled within a specific time limit.

However, that is not the case with residential connections. With no special allotment of internet resources, the bandwidth is usually distributed among neighbors. In addition, unlike business internet connections, they have no MTTR, leading internet repairs to delay for hours and even days.

Static and Dynamic IPs

Static IPs are often provided to those that choose business internet in Toronto. Static IP addresses are well-known for their security and consistency, and they assist users in implementing their network infrastructure.

Dynamic IPs, on the other hand, are assigned to residential connections. These are insecure compared to their static counterparts.

Symmetrical and Asymmetrical Fiber

Business internet connections are known to be symmetrical, whereas residential connections show asymmetry. This primarily affects the speed of the internet. We have outlined the key differences below.

Symmetrical

  • Fast upload and download
  • Important in helping back up data
  • Provides protection from ransomware

Asymmetrical

  • Fast download speed but slow upload speed
  • Little protection from ransomware if large amounts of data are not backed up because of poor upload speed

Dedicated Bandwidth and Shared Bandwidth

As previously said, business internet in Toronto assigns you all measures based on your requirements. This involves having dedicated bandwidth with a point-to-point connection for your business. Your bandwidth is not shared with anyone in your vicinity.

And as the term implies, shared bandwidth means that your internet bandwidth is being shared with many neighbors around you, substantially slowing down your internet speed. Regardless of your internet usage, this results in packet losses and frequent dropped calls.

So now that you know the difference between residential and business internet services, get the proper internet connection for all your needs from Pathway Communications. You can also visit our website for more details about the services that we provide.