Why Coax Is Still the Best Networking Solutionfor Most Businesses

Ubiquitous and inexpensive to operate, coaxial cable has become synonymous with accessible, high-speed networking. The same cabling that powers home television services can deliver Internet speeds faster than most businesses even need, at prices lower than anything remotely comparable.

How a Century-Old Technology Continues to Meet Our NeedsCoax works well for data transmission by using a resilient, efficient copper core with layers of protection. The inner core is surrounded by a dielectric insulator, shielded by braided copper wires, and covered with a protective outer jacket.

Coax is pre-installed at most sites, so coax solutions have very low entry costs. Popular for more than a century, even old urban buildings have coax installed because of its ability to support various communications systems.

More recently, coax surpassed DSL in business networking popularity because long distances equals lower DSL speeds. Coax resists environmental interference and maintains high speeds across great distances. With more businesses growing on a global scale and featuring multi-site operations, coax offers a much-needed dose of high-speed reliability.

Coax speeds vary, depending on the market and on the provider. Spectrum Business, for example, offers coax speeds up to 200 Mbps for downloads and up to 7 Mbps for uploads. On average though, coax provides download speeds up to 100 Mbps and uploads to 7 Mbps. Upload speeds in general are not as fast because coax uses asynchronous data transfer. This means download speeds will always be faster than upload speeds.

The Benefits of Coax for Today’s BusinessesMost businesses can meet all of their networking needs with coax solutions. The fast, high-capacity, reliable networking of coax comes at significantly lower costs than premium alternatives, such as operating a T1 or upgrading to fiber-optics.

Coax benefits include:• Ease of entry. Coax is in most locations already, so installation costs are relatively negligible and network set-up can be

complete in about a week.• Best value. Low service costs and installation fees make coax much cheaper than T1 or fiber.• The speed you need. Coax provides ample throughput rates for conducting business.• Reliability. Cable networks are sturdy and resilient to outside impact.

Coax works well for a wide variety of industries and organizations. It appeals to both small- and medium-sized businesses as well as larger businesses that do not have special needs for synchronous transfer. Unless a business needs to power special upload-heavy functions, like real-time video transfer or stock trading, many will find coax to be the best choice.

Businesses can further benefit from hybrid networks that use coax and fiber cabling. The L2TPv3 service from Spectrum Business is one such example that leverages the speed and reliability of both fiber-optics and coax. The result is a fast, secure network that connects multiple office locations, often with coax-only endpoints for maximum efficiency and affordability.

Learn more about running a modern networking solution on coaxial cable by visiting the Spectrum Business website.

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Spectrum Business is a unit of Charter Communications, Inc., one of the nation’s leading broadband communications companies. Leveraging the national reach of our parent company’s existing network, we provide business customers with reliable, secure,