How Reliable is Cable Internet?

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How Reliable is Cable Internet?

Wired internet connections like cable internet are typically very reliable. These connections experience less online data packet loss than wireless connections, which means they’re typically faster and more consistent. Of course, this doesn’t mean that they’re impervious to damage. In fact, wired networks are much more vulnerable to damage than wireless ones.

Let’s take a closer look at internet speeds and the reliability of cable, and examine how a wireless failover connection can improve the reliability of your cable connection.

Cable Internet Speed

Cable internet has an average download speed of between 25 and 200 Mbps and an upload speed of around 10 Mbps, which means it’s about as fast or faster than mobile data options like 5G and 4G LTE. Most businesses use cable internet as their primary connection because it has fast speeds, costs less than many alternatives, and generally provides a reliable connection.

Want to know how cable internet speeds compare to 5G and 4G LTE? Find out now.

Why do Cable Networks Fail?

While cable internet is fast and consistent, a lot can go wrong when your internet network is made up of miles of cables. These cable networks branch off at many points, to deliver cable to your town, your neighborhood, and your business. If anything damages the cable anywhere along this chain, your business will lose access to the internet until the cable is fixed.

Here are a few common scenarios that could cause cable internet outages at your business:

Network Maintenance
Whether someone’s working on your local network or your internet provider is updating all the cable infrastructure in your area, you rarely have control over the scheduled network maintenance that could take your business temporarily offline.

Extreme Weather
Some businesses are located in areas that are very susceptible to strong winds, heavy rain, or extreme variations in temperature that cause cable damage. Even if your business isn’t located in one of these places, extreme weather can bring down cable lines anywhere.

A Natural Disaster
Likewise, floods, tornadoes, and other natural disasters often damage or destroy cables. After a natural disaster, your cable provider needs to rebuild its cable network to get you back online.

A Traffic Accident

A traffic accident can damage your cable network at any point in the chain, knocking out cable service to an entire town or neighborhood. The health and safety of those involved in the accident rightfully come first, so these outages can take a while to reverse.

Vandalism
Vandals can cause a lot of commercial property damage in a short amount of time. If they target the wired internet connection that you rely on to run applications that ensure the security of your commercial property, your business could have a difficult time rebounding from the situation.

Sabotage

Because most modern security and surveillance systems depend on internet access, burglars may intentionally target your cable lines before attempting to break into your business.

Find out more about the types of situations that can take your wired internet connection offline.

How to make your cable connection reliable?

If your cable internet connection is always unreliable, there’s probably something wrong with your local network or the network in your town or neighborhood. If your business keeps temporarily losing and regaining access to the internet, contact your provider and see if they can send someone to look at your network hardware. If they can’t fix the problem for you, you may need to install a second, redundant internet connection.

Wireless internet Failovers Keep Your Business Online

Because they’re vulnerable to hardware damage, no cable connection is completely foolproof – but a wireless internet failover can ensure the reliability of your business’ internet connection. Wireless connections like 5G and 4G LTE are great internet backups because remote infrastructure is safe from the types of events that typically take down your cable.

If your town’s cable infrastructure is down for scheduled maintenance, for example, you’ll still get a mobile data signal from nearby cell towers. Same thing if a traffic accident cuts off service to your neighborhood or a flash flood destroys the cable infrastructure at your business.

5G and 4G LTE are the fastest wireless internet options, which makes them the best failover solution for your internet provided by a cable’s connection. They’re better solutions than, say, satellite internet because they have user experiences closer to what you’re used to with cable internet. With mobile data, you won’t have to change the way you do business when your failover kicks in.

Please feel free to share your experience with the reliability of cable with our audience!