ISP bonding solutions are the best option for business-grade, reliable, on-site internet connectivity.

It’s 2023 and the internet, whether we like it or not, is a crucial part of every business’s operations. So it’s a little mind-boggling that we haven’t found a better way to connect to the Internet in a reliable, affordable and secure manner. While this is a constant problem for businesses relying on on-site connectivity, it shouldn’t be.

Read on to learn more about the challenges of connectivity and discover a few ways businesses can leverage existing infrastructures to stay online no matter what.

Everyone needs to stay online

As the world becomes increasingly digital, businesses and remote workers need the internet to operate effectively. And the pandemic only accelerated the shift to hybrid and fully remote workforces. That means businesses across nearly every industry now rely on the Internet to a certain extent.

Even though the need for reliable connectivity is growing rapidly, we often see that existing telecom infrastructures sometimes have difficulty keeping up with consumer and business expectations. As a result, spotty connection continues to impact the ability of businesses and remote workers to stay online and, in turn, to remain productive on a daily basis.

The problem with internet connectivity today

So, what does today’s landscape of connectivity lack?

Transparency: As a consumer or business owner, transparency and reliability matter. However, a common trend in telecommunications is that offering simple and affordable internet access is not the standard. To gain access to the internet, consumers often need to sign up for long-term contracts and pay for expensive hardware just to get started, yet this pricing is very opaque.

Affordability: Because of the sheer size of telecom businesses, consumers pay more for internet services. Therefore, telecom companies compete with each other by providing various packages and add-on services rather than a simple and affordable option for internet connectivity. However, because there is a hyperfocus on add-on selling, organizations move further away from the core service of providing internet access.

Reliable connection: Once consumers and business owners sign on with an internet provider, it is common they’ll likely deal with a spotty connection. This is especially true in a location that isn’t within the provider’s reliable coverage zone. In rural areas, however, there might not be any other option, and there’s little incentive for an internet service provider to build additional infrastructure.

Customer service: We’ve all experienced this: your internet goes down or you have a question about your bill, but you can’t seem to get a hold of customer service. When your business has a connectivity issue, connecting with an agent can be challenging and frustrating.

A better internet connectivity approach

Because industries like telecom own large market segments, there is little incentive to improve. As long as consumers are stuck with a single ISP provider, many consumers are forced to deal with unstable and expensive connectivity. So, how can we approach connectivity differently in this day and age?

An aggregated connectivity solution bonds multiple carriers together to eliminate the reliance on a single telecom provider for Internet access. This allows customers to leverage multiple carriers simultaneously, whether AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile or other local carriers. The result? A self-redundant and high-speed internet connection that leverages the best available carriers in a particular region from a single router.

In a way, ISP bonding decouples the underlying infrastructure from the performance end-users can achieve. Instead of a failover approach — where there’s a disruption as users switch from the primary connection to a backup — a bonded router can seamlessly and dynamically migrate.

A bonded router is a device that is used to combine or “bond” multiple internet connections from the same or different ISPs into a single, higher-speed connection. This high-speed connection is achieved by using link aggregation technology, which allows multiple network links to be combined into a single logical link. That means it can dynamically migrate traffic to another connection if one fails. That means businesses and remote workers can continue operating without even noticing if a connection goes down.

Aggregated connectivity also helps businesses overcome the regional nature of the big telecom companies. For example, due to dead zones, businesses that have a large geographical footprint would normally need contracts with multiple carriers to fully cover all their locations. ISP bonding offers a way to consolidate this into a single internet solution.

Choose solutions that take back control

For most businesses today, it’s crucial to stay online, no matter what. That’s why you need to prioritize solutions that ensure your business stays online no matter what. In turn, this will promote a more equitable internet where everyone has access to the most reliable and cheapest connectivity possible. ISP bonding solutions are the best way to make an affordable option for business-grade, reliable, on-site internet connectivity a reality for the majority of businesses.

Anton Shmakov is CEO of MotionRay, a next-generation internet provider for businesses. This piece is exclusive to Broadband Breakfast.