Boxx Communications Ltd

Simplifying telecommunications for businesses large and small!

Cloud & IT

Broadband Connection Vouchers: Government grants to boost your broadband

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Broadband Connection Vouchers: Government grants to boost your broadband

In excellent news for those who are looking to save money and improve their broadband performance at the same time, here at Boxx we have become an approved supplier of the Government’s Broadband Connection Vouchers scheme.

Vouchers worth up to £3000 are available to SME’s who meet the criteria, to assist with the £100+ upfront costs of an improved broadband service. The vouchers can be used for a range of things from a simple installation of superfast broadband (if this was missing before), to the installation of a dedicated or uncontended connection, such as one of our Direct Internet Access (DIA) products.

The vouchers are available in 50 cities across the UK and have been made possible through £40m of Government funding. They are available on a first come, first served basis until 31 March 2016 and your business needs to be registered in one of the local authority areas covered by the voucher scheme.

To be eligible for a voucher, the broadband service you select must deliver a ‘step change’ speed or performance improvement on your current connection and must meet certain conditions.

For a Fibre Broadband connection

These must offer a minimum of 30MB p/sec. If the existing service is already 30MB p/sec or greater, then the upgraded service must deliver at least twice that speed.

For a Direct Internet Access (DIA) connection (ie those provided on a dedicated/uncontended basis)

These must offer a minimum of 20 MB p/sec and be capable of being configured/upgraded to support at least 30 MB p/sec. They are also required to provide a service of at least twice the speed of the current one to qualify, unless you are upgrading from a standard Broadband or Fibre Broadband service, where this requirement does not apply.

DIA is the connection of choice for businesses who have discounted standard broadband, and even a fibre broadband connection, as not being sufficient to fully support their business-critical online demands. It’s akin to the Rolls Royce of connections, offering ultimate reliability and a rock-solid connection for those who need continual and reliable online access. Ideal for large teams and those who use a lot of cloud-based applications, it offers totally uncontended and symmetrical bandwidth, and the ability for multiple users to be doing multiple tasks at the same time. We recently blogged about What is Direct Internet Access and more recently Could Direct Internet Access benefit your business.

The Broadband Connection Vouchers scheme is managed by the Broadband Delivery UK unit within the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. Each company can only apply for one voucher, and while this can be used for upgrades in more than one premises, it cannot be for more than £3,000 in total.

If you are interested to see how these vouchers could be used to upgrade your broadband connection or to answer any questions you may have call us on 01908 350750 or click here.

What is Direct Internet Access (DIA)…?

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What is Direct Internet Access (DIA)...?

For ultimate reliability and a rock-solid connection to the internet, Direct Internet Access (DIA) is a robust solution for businesses heavily reliant on being connected, where continuous and reliable online access is of the utmost importance.

DIA is the connection of choice for businesses who have looked at, and discounted, standard broadband and even a fibre connection as not being sufficient to fully support their business’s online demands.

Often, but not always, these businesses will have a large or growing team or make heavy use of cloud-based applications, but what they all have in common is wanting and needing a dedicated and fast internet connection. Internet access is, for them, quite simply business critical.

Featuring totally uncontended and symmetrical bandwidth, DIA’s dedicated business-grade internet service is a superb solution to these needs, as a DIA package means no line sharing and an upload speed that is the same as the download one.

Crucially, multiple users can be online doing multiple tasks at the same time, which is particularly important for businesses using lots of cloud-based storage and applications as is increasingly common across all industries.

And even offering all of these benefits, DIA is not a one size fits all solution, with different bandwidths and speeds available to suit differing business needs.

DIA can be delivered in a number of ways, including over Ethernet fibre, EFM copper and now generic ethernet access fibre to the cabinet (GEA FTTC).

Whichever option is selected, the service is highly resilient because it uses multiple Tier One ISPs to guarantee the fastest connection possible at any time, with automatic core re-routing if any route fails.

Remote working is also non issue, with site-to-site VPNs over DIA allowing access to core site resources quickly and easily. Likewise, while only the bandwidth used is paid for, the service is scalable at short notice if more capacity is suddenly required.

If you want to discuss our DIA products or any other solutions, you can contact us or call us on 01908 350 750.

Your Broadband Provision: What to do if you’re unhappy

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Your Broadband Provision: What to do if you're unhappy

New research from the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has once again highlighted the problems of rural broadband and the ongoing issues people in those areas have with connectivity.

The research, which found that 49% of rural small businesses were dissatisfied with their broadband provision, compared with 28% in urban areas, has led to further talk of a ‘two-speed digital economy.’

This issue is predicted to become even more significant over the next two years, as small firms become more reliant on a high quality broadband connection to do business. More than three quarters (77%) said that email will be critical to their business, while more than half (57%) said broadband will be essential to engaging with their customers in the next two years.

As broadband providers, we know more about this issue than most. Crucially, people thinking of setting up in rural areas need to know that no provider will be able to offer an effective service if the basic infrastructure is not in place.

Limited availability of superfast broadband services is a key reason for slower speeds in rural areas, although broadband speeds over ADSL, a technology that uses the copper wire telephone network, are generally also slower because of the longer distances to the telephone exchange.

While the speed of service is ultimately dictated by what infrastructure is in place, there are steps that providers can take to ensure that you’re receiving as good a service as possible in any given area.

We, for example, have selected our supply chain with superior connectivity in mind and through our use of multiple suppliers we are able to search for and can identify the best connections at your exchange and advise you of the most appropriate product for your business, in your area.

Our range of broadband providers includes all of the major networks (including BT, Talk Talk, Gamma, Daisy Wholesale, Virgin and Nine wholesale), giving us the maximum number of packages to choose from.

Other options for rural businesses to consider, which may provide a better service overall depending on what your local broadband capacity is, include fibre broadband and direct internet access (DIA).

Fibre broadband opens all kinds of new possibilities for speed, although it does require the area to be fibre-enabled.

DIA is a dedicated internet service aimed at businesses that provides a robust, reliable and fast connection, with options available to suit different business needs, bandwidth requirements and speeds.

But it’s not all doom and gloom outside of our towns and cities. Improving speeds in rural areas is a priority for the Government which has committed funding to ensure superfast broadband is more widely available across the UK. It has reportedly on course to reach 90% superfast coverage by early 2016 and last year announced an extra £250 million investment to extend superfast coverage to 95% of premises by 2017.

However, the FSB believes that more could be done, especially as just 16% of rural businesses currently have access to superfast broadband.

As a result of its findings, it is calling for the Government to conduct a comprehensive review of broadband policy. This includes measures to encourage more competition for better packages in the business broadband market, a commitment to accelerate the roll-out of 4G mobile services and prioritisation of fibre-optic provision to business parks and enterprise zones.

Bits & Bytes: The difference between a Megabit & a Megabyte

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Bits & Bytes: The difference between a Megabit & a Megabyte

As this blog has noted before, the telecoms and broadband sector is rife with jargon, which can be very confusing for even the most experienced user.

It’s important to make sure you have a full understanding though, particularly of terms that seem very similar but are not interchangeable, as this can have a significant impact both on the service you end up with, and the speed with which you are able to download.

Take, for example, megabits and megabytes. Two words that look and sound very similar, and which are both often shortened to meg in conversation and online. Anyone could be forgiven for assuming they are two terms for the same service but that would be a big mistake.

In fact, a megabyte is eight times bigger than a megabit. Simply, eight megabits make one megabyte.

Now this may seem as if we’re splitting hairs, but it’s actually a very important thing to know.

Your broadband speed is most likely measured in megabits per second (Mbps). Most files available for download online, such as PDFs, are usually measured in megabytes (MB).

If you have a file of 20 MB, and a 20 Mbps connection, without knowing the difference between the terms, you would assume you could download your file in one second. Now, of course, once you know that there are eight bits in a byte, you also know that you have to multiple that figure by eight.

Being seven seconds out doesn’t seem a lot, but do that multiple times a day and those seconds soon add up into minutes and more.

This can be critical if downloading material is a big part of your job or company culture, and if the person who chose and paid for the package didn’t take the time to understand all of the relevant terms correctly. It could add significantly to the time needed to do everyday tasks, as well as potentially pushing up costs.

Aside from the context, it is straightforward to work out which kind of meg is being talked about, as megabyte is condensed to MB, while the bit, as the smaller component, takes a lower case b.

As with so many areas of technology, things that seem quite complicated actually turn out to be quite straightforward in the end. But doing your homework with tech jargon will always pay dividends, most importantly that you end up with the right package for your business needs.

If you want to talk more about this or anything else your business needs, get in touch.

New world record set for broadband speed over copper wires

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New world record set for broadband speed over copper wires

A new broadband speed world record has been set using traditional copper telephone wires.

Bell Labs, the research and development arm of global telecoms giants Alcatel-Lucent, set a new speed of 10 gigabits-per-second (gbps) using a prototype technology it calls XG-FAST. The prototype also demonstrated how existing copper access networks can be used to deliver 1Gbps symmetrical ultra-broadband access services.

Achieving 1 Gbps ‘symmetrical’ services where bandwidth can be split to provide simultaneous upload and download speeds of 1 Gbps is a major breakthrough for copper broadband, as it will potentially enable operators to provide internet connection speeds that are comparable with fibre optic services.

This will have a major business benefit in locations where it is not physically, economically or aesthetically viable to lay new fibre cables all the way into residences, as it could massively extend the life of existing copper line networks. Instead, fibre can be brought to the curbside, wall or
basement of a building and the existing copper network used for the final few metres, significantly reducing costs.

XG-FAST is the successor to the G.fast technology which is currently being ratified by the International Telecommunication Union.

When this new broadband standard becomes available in 2015, G.fast will use a frequency range for data transmission of 106 MHz, giving broadband speeds up to 500 Mbps over a distance of 100 metres.

In contrast, XG-FAST uses an increased frequency range up to 500 MHz to achieve higher speeds but over shorter distances.

Bell Labs achieved 1 Gbps symmetrical over 70 metres, or 230 feet, on a single copper pair.  Ten Gbps was achieved over a distance of 30 metres, or 100 feet, by using two pairs of lines in a technique known as bonding. Both tests used standard copper cable provided by a European operator.

Marcus Weldon, President of Bell Labs, said: “Our constant aim is to push the limits of what is possible to invent the future, with breakthroughs that are 10 times better than are possible today. Our demonstration of 10 Gbps over copper is a prime example: by pushing broadband technology to its limits, operators can determine how they could deliver gigabit services over their existing networks, ensuring the availability of ultra-broadband access as widely and as economically as possible.”

Commenting on the achievement, President of Alcatel-Lucenta’s Fixed Networks business said: “The Bell Labs speed record is an amazing achievement, but crucially in addition they have identified a new benchmark for real-world applications for ultra-broadband fixed access. XG-FAST can help operators accelerate FTTH deployments, taking fibre very close to customers without the major expense and delays associated with entering every home.”

By making 1 gigabit symmetrical services over copper a real possibility, Bell Labs is offering the telecommunications industry a new way to ensure no customer is left behind when it comes to ultra-broadband access.

Heartbleed – and what it means for small businesses and data

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Heartbleed - and what it means for small businesses and data

The Heartbleed bug is bad news for most companies, including small businesses, both because it potentially leaves
customer data open to hackers and because of the scale of the web traffic involved. Even though the weakness, which exploits
a flaw in popular open source encryption software.

Open SSL has been around since March 2012, its existence has only come to prominence in April this year. Worryingly, experts believe that up to two thirds of all websites have been compromised so how do you know if your business or data is at risk?

Open SSL runs on web servers and was designed to protect traffic that carried personal data between users and
supposedly secure sites such as banking and shopping carts. It’s used widely across the web, from huge companies such as Yahoo down to small e-commerce sites.

But it has now emerged in what has been dubbed the world’s ultimate web nightmare that these encryption keys
could be lifted from the sites themselves if the Heartbleed bug had compromised them. Worse, it can be done without leaving a trace.

“The main worry is for small e-commerce sites that do not know they have been affected,” says Keith
Cottenden, director at cybersecurity specialists CY4OR told the BBC.”Any business that takes customer details could be
vulnerable because this encryption is designed to protect personal data. Businesses need to apply mitigation now.”

Effective and robust data security is business-critical for companies of all sizes, but the cost is often disproportionately high for
smaller outfits.

While bad data handling can cost clients and trust both key to the success of small businesses many companies have inadequate systems in place, either because of a lack of resources and understanding, and rely on a head-in-the-sand approach when something like Heartbleed occurs. But the expert opinion in this case is that no company can
afford to ignore Heartbleed.

The bug has been around for two years, meaning that anything held in that time could potentially have been accessed if your website relied on Open SSL for secure communications with users, and there’s no way of knowing if this has happened. While the advice to users is to change passwords once sites have been fixed, the onus is on sites to update their security systems
first, otherwise the new password is also vulnerable.

Key steps to take to make sure any data such as credit card details or passwords that your site holds is secure includes updating Open SSL on each individual internet-facing computer you have, as well as revoking your SSL certificates and generating new ones.

If you have an IT department, they should be able to sort this for you if not and this sounds confusing, then it is likely that you need assistance from specialists for this and other data security needs.

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