Main Causes of Bandwidth Issues in Businesses

Main Causes of Bandwidth Issues in Businesses

Internet speeds might be getting faster than ever before, but bandwidth hogs remain one of the most common causes of frustration in the workplace. Making matters worse is the fact that organizations are becoming increasingly reliant on the internet for many important systems -- from hosted applications to online storage to VoIP telephony.

To solve your bandwidth issues and make your workplace more productive, you’ll need to take a few steps to identify the culprits and manage your bandwidth accordingly.

#1. VoIP and Video Conferencing

Every business is heavily reliant on its ability to communicate. And chances are, your VoIP system will be one of your most important technology assets. For this reason, it’s best to keep your VoIP running in a separate environment rather than sharing the same resources as your other core systems. This way, other online activities will not be able to interfere with it, and call quality won’t take a hit every time there’s heavy traffic on the network.

Voice calls generally don’t consume much bandwidth, unless you’re running a large call center. However, video calls can be major bandwidth hogs, especially if they are in high definition. Additionally, many VoIP apps such as Skype allow file and screen sharing, both of which consume a fair bit of extra data.

#2. Online Backup and File Synchronization

If you’re not in the habit of keeping all your business data backed up in the cloud, then you’re leaving yourself open to an unacceptable level of risk. However, just because cloud backup is so important doesn’t mean you need to let it get in the way of your everyday workload.

Automated cloud backups should ideally be scheduled to take place out of working hours, so they don’t get in the way of your everyday operations. It’s also safer and more effective to have your backups made when people aren’t busy using your systems and, therefore, constantly modifying the data being synchronized.

#3. Peer-to-Peer File Sharing

Sometimes, employees are tempted to download large files at work since chances are, your business internet service is significantly faster than what they’re used to back home. To make matters worse, peer-to-peer file sharing often uses as much bandwidth as it can get ahold of, and that means your whole network will suffer.

But that’s not all – if your employees end up downloading pirated or other illegal content using your office internet connection, it will be your business leaving itself open to litigation.

#4. Automatic Updates

Automatic updates are enormously beneficial because they ensure that your computers are always kept up to date. However, they can drastically slow down your network, particularly if they are downloading simultaneously on multiple computers. When you consider that, for example, new releases of Windows weigh in at upwards of four gigabytes each, it’s easy to see how automatic updates can become one of the biggest bandwidth hogs of all.

While you should never disable automatic updates (this isn’t possible in Windows 10 anyway), you can defer them or set your connection as metered during working hours. As with backup and file synchronization, you’ll ideally want to stick to installing non-critical and feature updates outside of working hours.

#5. Malicious Intrusions

A malicious intrusion into your network is easily the worst kind of bandwidth hog because it doesn’t just reduce performance, it also presents the very real possibility of a serious data breach. Whether it’s a denial of service (DoS) attack aimed at crippling your systems or something more nefarious such as an attempt to steal confidential data, you’ll need to deal with malicious intrusions as quickly as possible.

If your network security has been compromised, you should first disconnect it from the internet and deauthorize any apps before changing all your passwords. While you’re at it, you’ll also need to identify the attack entry point and hastily patch any vulnerabilities before the damage to your business increases exponentially.

Aligning technology to your business goals isn’t an easy task. Sometimes, it can seem like technology ends up working against you. That’s why Founders Technology Group helps guide businesses with cutting-edge managed IT that simply works. Contact us today if you need a dependable IT solutions partner.