When it comes to internet bandwidth, bigger is almost always better for your business—which is why 2 Gigabit, or 2G, fiber optic internet might be exactly what you need.

Small businesses have never relied as much on the internet as they do now. You might use it to connect with your customers, operate your payment terminals, take orders, monitor your security systems and countless other crucial tasks. For all of them, fast internet speeds are essential—and this means fast internet speeds are essential to your business.

1. More bandwidth keeps online activity humming

You should think of your business internet bandwidth kind of like flood defenses: It doesn’t matter if they work 99% of the time if they can’t hold up when the waves are highest and you need them the most. When assessing your business’ internet needs, you shouldn’t think about the average day but the peak day. You want to have enough capacity that everyone in the office can be on a video call at once while you download a large update for all your payment terminals

These wild internet-intense days may be rare, but they will happen—and you don’t want to be anywhere close to maxing out your broadband bandwidth when they do. Imagine all your important client video conferences cutting out at once because your internet speeds are too slow.

This is especially important if your business is going to have any kind of hybrid work arrangement. Not only will your internet needs vary hugely based on how many people are in the office, but because everyone will continue to be so reliant on video calls for meetings, you need to make sure there’s enough capacity that everything can run smoothly wherever people are working from.

This is where 2G internet comes in: As the fastest internet for small businesses (without a bespoke plan), it’s the best guarantee you’ll always have enough capacity.

2. Keep devices and IoT running smart

People aren’t the only ones depending on an internet connection: Any Internet of Things (IoT) or smart devices you have on your premises also need stable, fast internet, especially if you want to automate them or access them remotely.

A 2G connection will enable you to have more smart devices and a better automated office without affecting your overall internet connection and your staff’s ability to get things done. You can have Wi-Fi security cameras, all the smart lights you need, smart temperature and humidity sensors, and whatever other IoT devices you like connected to your business internet without anyone noticing any slowdown to their internet speed.

3. Enhanced speed lets you work as fast as you like

With a 2G connection everything is just quicker. Downloading and uploading documents, videos and other files is practically instantaneous. It literally takes less than five seconds to download a 1 gigabit file. You’ll probably take longer to find and click the download button than it does for the file to save to your computer.

With such quick file transfer speeds, it’s really easy for your staff to collaborate productively. And less time waiting for files to download will keep them more engaged. (And engaged staff are productive staff!)

Also, it’s worth repeating that the upload and download speeds are symmetrical. This means you can upload files as fast as you can download them, which is something only a fiber internet connection can provide. It’s why fiber is the best high-speed business internet for small businesses where sharing files with co-workers or clients is important.

4. Fiber moves you faster to the future

Fiber connections are the future of business internet. Not only do they offer the fastest internet speeds you can currently get, but they can get faster without any hardware upgrades.

For example, if you already have a 1 gig fiber optic connection in your business, you can probably upgrade to 2 gig fiber with a phone call to your internet service provider. The fiber optic cables you already use are able to support the faster connection. In fact, they could even support a 10 gig connection—just as soon as the rest of the internet architecture catches up.