How to Evaluate Your Business Internet Speed (And When to Upgrade)
Your business internet speed is one of those things you probably don't think much about until it's a problem. Then suddenly everything feels slow—downloads take forever, video calls lag, employees complain, and you start wondering if you're paying too much for too slow a connection.
But here's the thing: most business owners don't actually know how fast their internet is. They know they're paying $50-200 per month for internet, but they don't know if they're getting what they pay for, whether they need more speed, or whether upgrading would actually help their bottom line.
This blind spot costs real money. A business without adequate internet speed suffers from:
- Slow employee productivity
- Failed cloud backups
- Poor quality video calls
- Frustrated customers
- Missed opportunities to add cloud-based tools
On the flip side, many businesses pay for more speed than they actually need. You don't need gigabit internet to run a small office. That's wasted money.
The goal is simple: understand what speed you need, measure what you have, and upgrade if there's a clear ROI.
Understanding Internet Speed Terms
Before you can evaluate your speed, you need to understand what these terms mean:
Download speed
This is how fast data comes down from the internet to your devices. Measured in Mbps (megabits per second). This is what most people care about. If you're downloading files, loading websites, or streaming video, download speed matters.
Typical business uses:
- Web browsing: 1-5 Mbps per user
- Streaming video (1080p): 5-10 Mbps per stream
- Cloud file sync: 5-20 Mbps per user
- Video calls (HD): 2.5-4 Mbps per call
Upload speed
This is how fast data goes from your business to the internet. Also measured in Mbps. Many business owners ignore this, but it's increasingly important as businesses rely on cloud storage, video conferencing, and cloud backups.
Typical business uses:
- Email with attachments: 1-2 Mbps
- Cloud backup: 5-10 Mbps per device
- Video conferencing: 1.5-4 Mbps per call
- Uploading large files: 10-50 Mbps needed
Latency (ping)
This is the delay between sending a request and getting a response. Measured in milliseconds (ms). Lower is better. This matters for video calls, online gaming, real-time applications, and anything that requires responsiveness.
- Below 50ms: Excellent (imperceptible delay)
- 50-100ms: Good (minor delay, acceptable for most uses)
- 100-150ms: Fair (noticeable delay, may affect video calls)
- Above 150ms: Poor (significant delay, problematic for real-time work)
Jitter
This is variation in latency. Your latency shouldn't fluctuate wildly during the day. Consistent (low jitter) is better than fast but variable.
Packet loss
This is the percentage of data packets that don't arrive successfully. They have to be resent, which slows everything down. You want packet loss below 1%. Anything above 3% indicates a problem.
What Business Internet Speed Do You Actually Need?
The answer depends on your business type and size. Here's a practical guide:
Small office (1-5 people)
- Download: 25-50 Mbps
- Upload: 5-10 Mbps
- Typical usage: Basic web, email, maybe light video conferencing
- Recommendation: 50 Mbps down / 10 Mbps up
Medium office (6-20 people)
- Download: 100-200 Mbps
- Upload: 20-50 Mbps
- Typical usage: Heavy web, video conferencing, cloud tools, possibly streaming
- Recommendation: 200 Mbps down / 50 Mbps up
Large office (20+ people)
- Download: 300+ Mbps
- Upload: 100+ Mbps
- Typical usage: Heavy video conferencing, cloud backups, large file transfers, streaming
- Recommendation: 500+ Mbps or gigabit connection
Server/hosting in-house Add 100+ Mbps to compensate for server traffic
Heavy users (video production, design, CAD, etc.) Add 50-100 Mbps to compensate for large file transfers
These are minimums. You should probably be 20-30% above these minimums to account for peak usage and multiple simultaneous activities.
A practical rule of thumb: Count your concurrent users (how many people actively using the connection at the same time, typically 60-80% of your total employees).
Multiply by:
- 10 Mbps minimum for heavy users
- 5 Mbps minimum for average users
- 2 Mbps minimum for light users
Example: A 15-person office with average usage needs 15 × 5 × 80% = 60 Mbps download speed.
Testing Your Current Business Internet Speed
You need actual data. Here's how to test properly:
Use Speedtest by Ookla
Go to speedtest.net. This is the most common business speed test and what most ISPs reference.
Click "GO" and wait for the test to complete. You'll get:
- Download speed
- Upload speed
- Ping/latency
- Server location
Test properly:
Test multiple times, at different times of day. Internet speed fluctuates. You want an average, not a single test.
Test from different locations in your office. WiFi speed drops with distance from the router. If your offices are far apart, test from multiple areas.
Test from a wired connection (ethernet cable) to get your actual internet speed, not WiFi limitations. WiFi introduces its own limitations that obscure actual internet speed.
Test when others aren't using the internet. If someone's streaming Netflix, your test will be skewed.
Write down the results and track them weekly. You're looking for consistency.
Advanced testing (if you want more data):
- Speedtest CLI (command-line tool) - allows automated testing on a schedule
- MTR (My Trace Route) - measures latency and packet loss over time
- Iperf - measures maximum theoretical throughput between your office and a server
- Your router's built-in tools - many business routers log connection statistics
Red Flags: Signs You Need to Upgrade
1. Your connection is much slower than advertised
If you pay for 100 Mbps and consistently get 40 Mbps, you have a problem. Could be:
- WiFi interference (test with ethernet)
- Router issues (restart it, check for overheating)
- ISP underselling capacity (especially in peak hours)
- Malware or background traffic (check Task Manager)
First, rule out WiFi and local issues. If the problem persists with ethernet, contact your ISP.
2. Video calls are constantly laggy or cutting out
This usually indicates:
- Insufficient upload speed
- High latency
- Packet loss or jitter
- Competing traffic (someone else is using the bandwidth)
If your upload speed is below 5 Mbps when multiple people are on calls, you need to upgrade.
3. Cloud backups take forever or fail
Cloud backups need consistent upload speed. If your upload is 2 Mbps and your daily backup is 50 GB, the backup takes 50 Mbps × 8 bits/byte = 400 Mbps, which takes more than an hour—often too long to complete overnight.
Rule of thumb: upload speed should be at least 5-10x your daily backup size in MB divided by 8 (bits to bytes). So if you back up 100 MB per day, you need upload speed of at least 60-125 Mbps. Actually, 10-20 Mbps is usually sufficient.
4. Website loading is slow for customers
If your website is hosted in the cloud (which most are), slow internet affects your customer experience too. If pages load slowly, customers blame you, not your ISP.
5. Adding new cloud tools makes everything slower
This is a sign you're at or near capacity. Each new cloud service, video conferencing tool, or team member pushes you closer to the limit. You need headroom.
6. Peak hours are noticeably slower
Some slowdown during peak hours is normal, but if your speed drops 50%+ during peak times, you're constrained.
Types of Business Internet Connections
When you're ready to upgrade, you have options:
Cable internet (Comcast, Charter, Cox)
- Speed: 100-1000 Mbps
- Price: $60-300/month
- Pros: Wide availability, good speed
- Cons: Shared bandwidth (neighbors affect your speed), asymmetrical (much faster download than upload)
- Best for: Most small businesses
Fiber (Google Fiber, AT&T Fiber, Verizon Fios)
- Speed: 100-2000+ Mbps
- Price: $70-400/month
- Pros: Symmetrical (same upload/download), very reliable, future-proof
- Cons: Limited availability (not available everywhere)
- Best for: Businesses in areas with fiber availability; worth considering for growth
Fixed wireless (Verizon 5G, T-Mobile Home, others)
- Speed: 50-500 Mbps
- Price: $50-200/month
- Pros: Wide availability, no physical infrastructure needed
- Cons: Weather-dependent, potentially variable
- Best for: Areas without cable/fiber options
Business DSL
- Speed: 5-100 Mbps
- Price: $40-200/month
- Pros: Wide availability
- Cons: Slower, especially in rural areas; unreliable
- Best for: Very small offices with light usage
Bonded connections
- Speed: Combines multiple connections (e.g., cable + DSL) for higher speed
- Price: $150-400/month
- Pros: Redundancy, higher throughput
- Cons: Complex, higher cost
- Best for: Businesses needing high availability
Dedicated or leased line
- Speed: 10-1000 Mbps
- Price: $200-2000+/month
- Pros: Very reliable, guaranteed speeds, business-grade support
- Cons: Expensive, may have long contracts
- Best for: Large businesses, mission-critical operations
For most small businesses, upgrading from cable 50 Mbps to cable 200 Mbps, or to fiber if available, is the right move.
Calculating the ROI of an Internet Upgrade
Before you upgrade, make sure it's worth it. Here's how to calculate ROI:
Monthly cost difference: (New plan cost) - (Current plan cost)
Example: Upgrading from 50 Mbps ($60/month) to 200 Mbps ($150/month) = $90/month additional cost.
Annual cost: $90 × 12 = $1,080/year
Productivity gains:
- If you have 10 employees wasting 10 minutes/day waiting for downloads/uploads, and you pay them $25/hour, that's $25 ÷ 60 = $0.42/minute × 10 minutes × 10 people = $42/day
- Annual: $42 × 250 working days = $10,500 in wasted productivity
If the upgrade eliminates this bottleneck, you're gaining $10,500 in value for $1,080 in cost. That's a 9:1 ROI. Upgrade.
Backup improvements:
- Current backup speed: 2 Mbps (50 GB backup takes 200 hours—impossible overnight)
- New backup speed: 20 Mbps (50 GB backup takes 20 hours—completes by morning)
- Benefit: Data protection you weren't getting before (value = risk mitigation)
Application performance:
- Cloud app A currently has 200ms latency (noticeably slow)
- New connection might reduce to 50ms (imperceptible)
- Benefit: Faster work, fewer frustrations, subtle productivity gains
Optimization Before Upgrade
Before you pay for more speed, make sure you're getting everything from what you have:
1. Optimize your WiFi
Many "slow internet" problems are actually WiFi problems:
- Upgrade to WiFi 6 (802.11ax) routers for 3x faster wireless
- Place routers centrally, elevated, away from obstacles
- Change WiFi channels to avoid interference (use WiFi analyzer app)
- Reduce number of connected devices
- Use 5GHz band for speed-sensitive devices
2. Check for background traffic
Malware, updates, or misconfigured backups can consume all your bandwidth. Check:
- Windows Update settings (use metered connection to reduce updates)
- Cloud backup software (schedule for off-hours)
- Antivirus/malware scans (schedule for evening)
- Application auto-updates (defer or disable)
3. Use traffic prioritization (QoS)
Quality of Service settings let you prioritize business-critical traffic. Configure your router to give priority to:
- VoIP/video calls
- Business applications
- POS systems Less priority to:
- Social media
- Entertainment streaming
- Non-business browsing
This ensures critical work gets the bandwidth it needs even when others are browsing.
4. Upgrade your router
Old routers can't handle modern devices. If your router is 3+ years old, upgrading to a modern business-class WiFi system might deliver better performance than upgrading your internet connection.
Moving Forward
Start by measuring. Use Speedtest to understand your current speed. Compare it to your needs based on your business size and type. Look for red flags. Then decide: is an upgrade justified?
If it is, you're looking at a fairly quick win—usually 1-3 weeks to order, install, and activate. The productivity gains often appear immediately.
Many small businesses we work with find that upgrading from 50 Mbps to 200-300 Mbps delivers noticeable productivity gains, especially if they've added cloud tools, video conferencing, or backup systems without increasing their internet speed.
It's one of those investments that actually pays for itself quickly.
Ready for a Network Assessment?
We can test your current internet speed, assess whether it meets your needs, and recommend upgrades if they make sense for your business.
Schedule Your Free Network Assessment — We'll measure your current performance and identify improvement opportunities.
Call us at (804) 510-9224 to discuss your internet speed and performance.
Sandbar Systems — We keep your network performing at its best.