Open Thread: Redundant Internet for the Home Office?
March 19th, 2007 (12:00pm) Matthew Reinbold 21 CommentsTweet This
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?
Web Work 101: How To Escape The Cubicle
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 …
Back in 1999 or so when I first got broadband DSL for my home office, it was prone to occasional failures. I already had two incoming voice land lines (home and business) so I spent the modest extra amount for two DSL accounts. Then, because my phone company allows it, I hired a different ISP for each. That way, if the ISP or their connection to the phone company was the point of failure, I would simply switch to the other line and I’d be up and running. Even in cases where the point of failure was somewhere in the telco infrastructure near my home, the “other” line was often working.
However, around 2003 or so I noticed it had been about 18 months since my last outage on either line, and that was due to a cable cut in the neighborhood and knocked them both out. So I have used one DSL line since, and have never had reason to regret the decision.
If I had some kind of extended outage I would probably take a one day vacation or tote my laptop to the nearest Starbucks, or even use the local library. I also have a client within driving distance that would let me work for a day or two in their office. It’s just not worth the extra monthly fees to have the redundancy.
Might sound archaic but, for 9.95/mo NetZero provides good, reliable dial-up (if your computer even has a modem anymore). Now, obviously going from a 12-Mbit cable connection [what I have] or possibly something higher, to a 56k dial-up connection (granted NetZero uses pre-fetching and compression) is like driving in the States after driving the Autobahn — but it’ll get the job done in a crunch which justifies $9.95 a month even if you don’t use it!
There are several solutions, wired and wireless. It’s not a question of can I and how? It’s what is your budget?
I work for a non-profit with multiple offices and we needed a redundant, load-balance solution for all of them. We ended up using Sonicwall products with cable and dsl connections at each location. We had an additional requirement of VPN tunnels between all offices. Works well but the Sonicwall solution would be overkill for a home setup and an expensive outlay to get the equipment.
There are load balancing routers for the home market. One sub $200 offering can be found at D-Link, DI-LB604 4-Port Load Balancing Router. It has two WAN ports and can support cable and dsl connections.
And of course there is always dialup.
I think it has to be a business decision to really be valid. Take the “I want” to always be connected emotion out of the equation and figure out what you really need to sustain your home business needs.
That said, I’ve got two broadband connections, EVDO, dail up in case Armageddon comes. And I’m evaluating two more broadband connections against a T1. I expect I will settle on three broadband connections from three different providers, but that’s very unusual for a home office in my experience.
Other than getting a data satellite, I only have one broadband option where I live. There’s always dial-up or data-over-cell in a real pinch, though that’s painful and I’d rather do something else for awhile or find an offsite computer.
But don’t forget about other points of failure too, like power. I have battery backup on my computer, and separate battery backup units to power my switches, router, modems, etc. So even if the premises goes dark, I can keep on surfing for some time.
RUS’ suggestion of a load-balancing router is also an interesting choice for the bandwidth-challenged DSL setups. For probably less than $50/month, add a second land line with DSL and run it through the load-balancing router along with the first.
Ken,
Why on earth would you need three broadband connections? I just can’t conceive of any home based business that needs that level of redundancy – if something takes 2 of them out it’s likely to kill the third too.
To me this is a business decision and I just can’t see the need to redundant connections to a home office – it just isn’t going to matter if I’m offline for a few minutes and if it’s longer I can grab the laptop and hit a cafe. If you’re in a remote location and don’t have that option, I can see a second connection… but otherwise this seems like a crutch, not a IT need born from considered analysis
There are some fantastic suggestions here. Of course, the solution to a *specific* case will vary by what is in your area. But I do like the non-techie solution mentioned by Dave and Chris early on – if there are multiple broadband sources in your neighborhood (Cable, DSL) find out what your neighbors are using and see if you can arrange some kind of access – we seem to be loosing that sense of community anyway; perhaps this is the 21st century ‘borrow a cup of sugar’ that we all need to do a bit more of.
@Chris – while I love the idea of just popping over to the local co-working spot I know that not everywhere is that lucky – for example, in Salt Lake City, where I currently hang my hat we’re trying to move things in that direction but we’re still running into a lot of blank stares. Hopefully though we’ll all have the creature comforts of Silicon Valley (but without the housing prices). ;)
@Cod – I’m amazed at how fast this has changed. Two years ago when I moved to the ‘burbs I could easily find a half dozen unprotected wifi spots sitting in my front room. Now, however, not a single one doesn’t require a password. I’m sure I could go war driving but its good to see that some basic security principles are filtering down to non-tech users.
@Logical Extremes – You make a fantastic point about the Internet connection not being the only ‘weak link’. I’ve got a UPS on my shopping list. I’ve learned the hard way – I suffer way more power outages for much longer periods in the spankin’ new burbs than I ever did living downtown (where the infastructure is much older).
about Dialup: sure, any ISP worth there salt has at least local dial up numbers – but I’m guessing that’s no where near enough bandwidth for VOIP like Vonage or Skype. At best, is that a check email and update blogs option?
My WiFi+cable access is rarely down, and when it is it’s often for only a few minutes.
If restarting my routers and taking a break for a few minutes doesn’t cure any troubles, I switch in order of descending preference to (1) neighbor’s WiFi to DSL, (2) Panera free WiFi, or (3) my high speed cellular data connection.
I’ve actually never gotten beyond option (1). But it’s good to know the other choices are available.
I’ve got two broadband connections, one from BT (work pays for) and one from Orange (which is free if your mobile bills are over £35). So havening a back up is a cheap option here. I’ve also got a vodafone 3G card and a Orange 3G M3100 with unlimited data plan, So there’s four different solutions to getting back on line should something happen.
I got the second Orange line after the BT went down for a week and a ran up a £400 GPRS bill..gulp…which work paid…phew.
Moral of that story, get a back up solution.
This is a very timely post. I’ve been having problems with Internet connection here. But every time I experience an Internet downtime due to bad weather that greatly affects wifi or even dsl connection here, my only resort is to go to cafes. During power outage, I go to malls and stay in restaurants with free wifi.
Right now my first dream is to have my own dsl connection. The problem with this is that it takes months or almost a year before your application for a dsl connection gets approved. Wifi is not a good choice for me because I work for 16 hours and the weather here in our place is not consistent or good always.
Comcast Cable is a good choice to check out when moving to a new location, or if you’re just tired of your current povider. If Comcast is in your area you will see that they offer a really strong line up of great services including digital cable, high-speed internet, and digital voice service. Comcast Triple Play bundle offers you Digital Cable TV, home phone and broadband internet all in one convenient package saving you loads of money.
Comcast has an HD Triple play program that lets you enjoy every feature possible on their programming setup. High Speed Broadband service from Comcast flies over their advanced fiber-optic network. It’s way faster than DSL. And with PowerBoost, you’ll enjoy even faster downloads and uploads. And another bonus is the online security, provided to you at no cost. You can get your phone service cheap through Comcast Digital Voice. No longer will you see those per-minute charges added up when the telephone bill arrives.
Even if you’ve been ignoring Comcast’s offers, take the time to look at this great deal – it can’t be beat.
Learn more about digital cable savings