Business Internet Services

Fiber is typically more reliable than our dedicated wireless link, but not significantly. While wireless links can be subject to interference and weather, our links are designed with a significant margin of error so that your link is unlikely to be affected unless we get very severe weather or interference that is directly next to your location. Wireless links, other than the one directly to your business, are typically redundant. Therefore, if one link fails, our traffic is automatically routed over the other link. Both connections also use our redundant internet connections. While a typical fiber customer is unlikely to see more than two hours of unscheduled outage time during the year, our typical dedicated wireless customers is unlikely to see more than six hours of unscheduled outage time per year.

Both dedicated services are generally going to be as secure as each other. The technology does not provide a security risk. While there are people who believe that a wireless link is less secure because anyone can tap into it, and nobody can tap into fiber, there are risks to both technologies. The wireless links are completely controlled by Benton REA’s PowerNET and we provide all links with either 128 bit or 256 bit encryption. Most of the direct links are a focused beam which means someone would have to be close to the direct path to actually intercept the signal. The data transmitted across fiber is not encrypted by Benton REA’s PowerNET but would similarly be difficult to tap. The biggest risk to security in either case is simply being connecting to the internet.

Internet speed can be measured in two ways. The first measurement is total bandwidth. This is like defining a freeway by the number of cars per hour that can pass a section of freeway. In this area, our fiber connections can handle speeds of up to 400 Mbps whereas our wireless connections can only reliably handle speeds up to 100 Mbps.

Latency is another way of defining speed that people notice when gaming or video chatting. This is the equivalent of the speed limit of a freeway and defines the amount of time it takes a small piece of information or data to get from one place to another. Our fiber connections have a typical latency of about 3-4 milliseconds and our dedicated wireless links have a typical latency of 4-6 milliseconds. For example, PowerNET’s connection to the website Google.com is about 15-20 milliseconds. Adding on the latency of either fiber or dedicated wireless, both services would provide a very fast connection to Google.com, no more than 26 milliseconds, a measurement of time that is virtually unnoticeable.

Typically, a dedicated wireless connection will be less expensive. Running fiber to your location is and expensive process. Typically, you will need to be within a couple miles of an existing fiber connection to be able to receive service, and running fiber even one mile from an existing service can run the Benton REA’s PowerNET installation costs up to $40,000-$50,000. A wireless link just needs line of sight to one of our towers and available frequency for the bandwidth that you want. The equipment itself then usually only costs us a few thousand dollars. Contact us for a more detailed quote by calling 509-786-4004 or 800-398-1232.