Fiber for the office?

[BugFreak]

Our office has been having internet issues over the past few months, mostly packet loss going out according to our system monitor guys. While it isn't noticeable on most devices it is knocking our VPN off which disconnects our main software and dropping any ongoing calls at the time.

After multiple tech visits from Spectrum the problem still exists so I have been tasked with finding something better. We are currently running 600 down/35up cable with around 15 computers, 5 TVs and 11 VOIP phones on the networks with the potential to add 4-5 more people in the future which would bring 4-5 more PCs, the same for phones and a couple more TVs to the network.

So far I have called ATT which is a no-go and going to the next Spectrum tier will only increase our down speed to 1G leaving the up at 35. I also talked to Spectrum Fiber who can give us a dedicated 50/50 or 100/100 fiber connection to the office. Not knowing much about fiber I'm here for input please. The cost will go up from $110 to $550 monthly for the 50/50 and up to $699 for 100/100 with a 36 month contract. The fiber sales person said the speed is much different than a typical cable connection so 50/50 will be much faster than our current 600/35 because it isn't impacted by the shared bandwidth of cable. Is this correct or should I up to 100/100?

Also I would love any input on downsides of this or any thoughts. Thanks!

 

[trents]

Does the three year contract with Spectrum fiber tie you into the 50/50 tear for that length of time or could you move up to the 100/100 tier before the end of three years if the 50/50 proved inadequate?

Hope this doesn't sound like a dumb question but may I assume your current office network is a server managed active directory domain and not peer to peer?

 

[ssjwizard]

In my experience fiber is significantly more stable than cable. Of course this is 100% going to vary from location to location. I get the cost concerns, but your getting a business class dedicated connection.

 

[BugFreak]

Does the three year contract with Spectrum fiber tie you into the 50/50 tear for that length of time or could you move up to the 100/100 tier before the end of three years if the 50/50 proved inadequate?

Hope this doesn't sound like a dumb question but may I assume your current office network is a server managed active directory domain and not peer to peer?

It allows us to move up on speed but not below 50/50.

Yes it is server managed.

After yet another call to Spectrum the phone tech said their firewall was still running on their router. This was conflicting with our primary firewall so this along with some other settings were causing our packet loss and lower speeds. That was his theory at least. Why any of the other three techs wouldn't have caught this I have no idea but I am giving it a shot. Apparently their router has something to do with our static ip otherwise I see no need for it considering we have our own switches and routers but thats what he said. We went 2 days without a problem but did get one late yesterday but not sure it was related. We shall see....