Open Thread: Redundant Internet for the Home Office?
It was one of those times that cause people to quote the omniscient Murphy. I was not only staring at the cold, hard reality of an oncoming deadline. I was also watching in horror as the little winking light that indicated my Internet status glowed red. Like most Internet routers green means go. Red means the series of tubes that brings the Internets to my house needs some Draino. Worse yet, having a VoIP phone meant I couldn’t even call for an ETA for when things would be restored.
Many corporate clients keep their workers happily productive (or at least on YouTube) by having multiple paths to the Internet. This redundancy ensures that if one service suffers a setback the wheels of commerce continue to churn. But is this a practical expense for a home based worker? Are there flexible business options that can be purchased on a house-by-house basis or am I stuck with the consumer level DSL and/or Cable options in my area? And if I do have multiple connections to the wider web are there intelligent ways of optimizing the bandwidth? Fail over? Load balancing? Or is this the powers-that-be telling me its time to go to the local coffee shop?
Am I the only one who gets nervous about placing all my productivity eggs in one ISP’s basket? What have you done to avoid net downtime?
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Generally, if I have problems with my internet connection I take it as a cue to go read something, take a walk, or eat. Often it’s better after I do that.
For extended downtimes, (for example, I moved in July and it took 2 weeks to get my internet running – something that was supposed to happen on moving day), I have a library not too far away with free internet access, (and it’s gorgeous – it looks like an Ivy League law library or something).
I really can’t justify doubling my connection cost. There are more options arriving all the time though. Bell now offers fibre-optic connections for homes that sound great, but again, they are quite expensive.
At home I use a DSL connection but I have a Verizon Laptop card for when I’m traveling. If my home connection is dead I use the Verizon card to function until I can get the DSL back up. Its costly but I love having the Verizon card to get access wherever I am.
Matthew – go to your local cafe! Or you can always try out a costly LaptopConnect Card? Not such a good choice if you arent frequently on the road.
Maybe you can knock on your neighbors door and ask him/her if they want to swap wireless network passwords if you have different ISP’s in case of outages.
Another option could be to check in with your local co-working facility, they usually do have daily rates.
If my connection goes down, I usually call up some webworking buddies in the area to see if they are online, and ask if they need some company. Of course i bring them their favorite hot beverage.
I’d suggest talking to a neighbour and getting something like a La Fonera each (fon.com). Then, if your net goes down, you can use theirs and vice versa. Nice and secure (neither of you compromise your network) and easy.
Well chances are if you are down your neighbor is down, so that is not an option I have been able to rely on.
Assuming you can’t do your work at a local cafe or library (you have to do it from home) there are not a lot of options. I think the best bet would probably be satellite internet (like hughesnet). Starts at about $60 a month I think… Not cheap, but it’s an option.
If I have my choice of 2 DSL providers and cable way out here in the suburbs, I would guess the stereotypical urban web worker has a choice too. I think the odds are good that a neighbor could have a different provider and emergency wireless sharing could be an option.
If your neighbors aren’t clued in on wireless security you may not even need to ask ;)
Um… if you are a webworker and you live in a place where the connection dies frequently enough to matter…. think about moving. I’m serious about this – if you’re running a business and you have a critical piece of your infrastructure failing enough that it affects your ability to conduct your business you need to consider whether you should continue working out of that house.
If we’re talking exceptional circumstances go to a cafe. But if your net connection doesn’t have 99% uptime you need to take a hard look at things. If it does, then doubling your connection cost to cover 1% outage seems expensive, esp since that outage might well happen when you’re asleep, etc.
I have cable, DSL, and Verizon EVDO. I think I’m well protected in the event of a failure somewhere.
I have cable internet @ home and a Ricochet card as an emergency backup. Best worst case scenario I can use my PDA phone as a cellular modem. Worst worst case scenario I can get short-term dialup. The PDA phone has an unlimited data plan so I can get ‘net even if the power goes out. I like having multiple options because it gives me adequate failover. Having done disaster recovery and operations architecture for years, three options is reasonably enough. I’d never sign up for something like an all-in-one package where they’re your sole provider for ‘net, phone etc. You never, *ever* single-source anything mission critical! Yes, it’s more cost, but what does it cost you if you’re cut off when a client needs you? Murphy’s Law; you know as soon as you have an outage that’s when they’ll need you the most.
Dialup, a good old-fashioned analog phone line and a charged-up notebook can get you out of a lot of trouble. I learnt this the hard way during the SoCal power outages. Half of the city was pitch-black – but I was still sending emails, thanks to dialup and candlelight …