When people talk about internet connections, the conversation usually starts and ends with speed.
“How fast is it?”
“What’s the download?”
“What’s the upload?”

Speed matters — but in day-to-day business use, reliability matters far more.

Peak Speed vs Real-World Performance

Peak speed is the best-case scenario: the maximum your connection can deliver under ideal conditions, usually measured during a quiet test.

Reliability is what happens the rest of the time:

• At 9am on a Monday
• During back-to-back video calls
• When multiple staff are logged into cloud systems
• When VPNs and security tools are running

A fast connection that drops, stalls, or fluctuates is far more disruptive than a slightly slower one that just works.

The Cost of an Unreliable Connection

Unreliable internet doesn’t always fail dramatically. More often, it causes:

• Frozen or glitchy video calls
• Slow cloud applications
• VPNs dropping mid-task
• Files timing out or needing to be resent
• Staff losing concentration and patience

These issues rarely show up on speed tests, but they quietly drain productivity every single day.

Why Businesses Feel the Pain More

Modern businesses rely on constant connectivity:

• Cloud-based accounting, CRM and file storage
• Hosted phone systems
• Remote access and home working
• Cyber security tools that need stable links

In this environment, consistency and low latency are often more important than headline speeds.

A connection that delivers the same performance all day is far more valuable than one that’s “very fast” some of the time.

Reliability Is About Design, Not Just Bandwidth

Two connections with identical speeds can behave very differently. Reliability is influenced by:

• Contention levels
• Network quality and routing
• Latency and jitter
• How faults are monitored and resolved
• Whether there’s backup in place

This is why upgrading purely based on speed figures can miss the real problem.

A Better Question to Ask

Instead of asking “What speed do we get?”, it’s often more useful to ask:

• Does it stay consistent during busy periods?
• Do video calls remain stable all day?
• How often do we notice problems?
• What happens if it goes down?

If the connection fades into the background and nobody talks about it — that’s usually a good sign.

In Summary

Fast internet looks good on paper.
Reliable internet keeps businesses running.

If your connection is quick but unpredictable, it may be time to rethink what really matters.

If you’d like a straightforward review of whether your current connection is built for reliability — not just speed — feel free to get in touch.

📞 01482 291292
✉️ rod@ktgl.co.uk

Rod Walker
Kingston Technologies Group (KTGL)

#BusinessInternet #Connectivity #ReliableBroadband #CloudWorking #VoIP #DigitalInfrastructure #BusinessContinuity