Business Success: Internet Services & Their Impact on Business
Your internet connection affects every part of your business, from how your staff works, to how customers experience your brand, to whether your systems stay secure. In 2026, with cloud applications, AI tools, video conferencing, and connected devices all competing for bandwidth, the gap between “good enough” internet and the right internet is wider than ever.
This guide covers how internet connectivity impacts the core areas of your business and what you can do about it. We’ve also built an industry-specific tool below, because a medical clinic’s internet needs are very different from a restaurant’s or a software company’s.
What Does Your Industry Need?
Select your industry below for specific speed recommendations, priority features, and the applications that matter most for your business type.
Office / Professional Services
Law firms, accounting practices, insurance agencies, real estate offices, consulting firms, and general office environments.
Why Internet Matters Here
Professional services offices run on cloud applications (Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, CRM systems, accounting software), video conferencing (Zoom, Teams), VoIP phone systems, and document sharing. Every employee is online all day, and the experience degrades noticeably when bandwidth is insufficient. A single Zoom call in HD uses roughly 3 to 4 Mbps. Multiply that by 10 simultaneous calls and you need 30 to 40 Mbps just for video, before accounting for everything else.
Critical Requirements
| Feature | Priority | Why It Matters |
|---|---|---|
| Symmetric upload/download | High | Cloud file syncing, video calls, and VoIP all depend on upload speed as much as download |
| Low latency | High | VoIP call quality and Teams/Zoom responsiveness degrade with latency above 50 ms |
| Static IP | Medium | Required for VPN access, security cameras, and some line-of-business apps |
| Backup connection | Medium | An LTE or Starlink backup keeps phones and email running during a primary outage |
| Unlimited data | Standard | All major Canadian business fibre plans include unlimited data |
Our Recommendation
A business fibre plan from Bell, TELUS, Rogers, or a regional carrier like FlexNetworks or Beanfield. For offices of 10 or more staff, 300 Mbps symmetric is the sweet spot. Add an LTE or Starlink backup for resilience, especially if your phone system is VoIP.
Retail / Restaurant / Hospitality
Shops, restaurants, cafés, bars, hotels, salons, and any customer-facing location processing payments.
Why Internet Matters Here
The July 2022 Rogers outage made this brutally clear: when the internet goes down, the point-of-sale goes down. Interac was knocked offline nationwide, and businesses across Canada couldn’t process debit cards regardless of their ISP. For retail and hospitality, internet isn’t just convenient, it’s directly tied to revenue. Modern POS systems, online ordering platforms, kitchen display systems, inventory management, loyalty programs, and customer WiFi all depend on it.
Critical Requirements
| Feature | Priority | Why It Matters |
|---|---|---|
| Payment processing reliability | Critical | Every minute without payment processing is lost revenue |
| Backup connection (different carrier) | Critical | An LTE backup on a different carrier keeps POS running when your primary goes down |
| LTE-connected payment terminal | Critical | A terminal with its own cellular connection provides a third layer of payment redundancy |
| Guest WiFi (separate network) | Medium | Customers expect it, but it must be isolated from your POS and business network |
| Low latency | Medium | Tap-to-pay and chip transactions are sensitive to latency |
Our Recommendation
A business fibre or cable plan as your primary, plus an LTE backup on a different carrier. For example, if your primary is Bell fibre, use a Rogers or TELUS LTE backup. Many modern routers support automatic failover between connections. Also consider an LTE-enabled payment terminal from your payment processor as a third layer of redundancy. The Rogers 2022 outage proved that a single connection, no matter how reliable on paper, is not enough for a business that depends on processing payments.
Healthcare / Medical
Medical clinics, dental offices, physiotherapy practices, pharmacies, veterinary clinics, and telehealth providers.
Why Internet Matters Here
Healthcare has unique internet requirements driven by regulatory compliance, patient safety, and the explosive growth of telehealth. Electronic medical records (EMR) systems like OSCAR, Telus Health (PS Suite), and Accuro are cloud-based or require constant server connectivity. Medical imaging (X-rays, MRIs, ultrasounds) involves transferring large files. Telehealth video consultations need reliable, low-latency connections. And Canadian privacy laws (PIPEDA and provincial health information acts like Ontario’s PHIPA or Alberta’s HIA) require that patient data be transmitted securely.
Critical Requirements
| Feature | Priority | Why It Matters |
|---|---|---|
| High reliability with SLA | Critical | Downtime can delay patient care, lab results, and prescription processing |
| Symmetric speeds | Critical | Medical imaging uploads can be hundreds of MB per file; telehealth needs strong upload |
| Backup connection | Critical | If your EMR is cloud-based, losing internet means losing access to patient records |
| Network segmentation | Critical | Medical devices, patient WiFi, and staff networks must be isolated for security and compliance |
| Static IP with VPN support | High | Required for secure access to EMR systems, lab portals, and provincial health networks |
Our Recommendation
Business fibre with symmetric speeds is the minimum. Larger multi-practitioner clinics handling imaging should consider Dedicated Internet Access (DIA) for guaranteed uptime and an SLA with financial teeth. Every healthcare facility should have a backup connection on a different carrier. Work with an IT provider experienced in healthcare to ensure your network segmentation meets PIPEDA and provincial health privacy requirements. If you’re providing telehealth, test your video quality under load to make sure it’s reliable when the whole clinic is online.
Tech / Software
Software companies, IT consultancies, SaaS providers, web development agencies, and tech startups.
Why Internet Matters Here
Tech companies are the heaviest bandwidth consumers. Developers push and pull from Git repositories, run CI/CD pipelines, download container images, and may host staging environments locally. Distributed teams rely on video conferencing throughout the day. SaaS companies may need to serve customers from local infrastructure. AI and machine learning workloads increasingly involve large data transfers to and from cloud computing services. And the entire team’s productivity depends on low-latency access to cloud development environments, project management tools, and communication platforms.
Critical Requirements
| Feature | Priority | Why It Matters |
|---|---|---|
| High symmetric bandwidth | Critical | Large code repos, container images, and cloud syncing are upload-heavy |
| Low latency | Critical | Cloud IDE responsiveness, SSH sessions, and real-time collaboration depend on it |
| Static IP(s) | Critical | VPN, staging servers, API whitelisting, and remote access all require static IPs |
| Backup connection with failover | Critical | Developer downtime is expensive; automatic failover keeps the team working |
| Scalability | High | Startups grow fast; choose a provider that can upgrade without a long installation wait |
Our Recommendation
Business fibre at 1 Gbps symmetric is the standard for tech companies with more than 10 people. For SaaS companies hosting any infrastructure locally or needing guaranteed uptime, DIA is worth the investment. Carriers like Beanfield (Toronto, Montréal, Vancouver, Ottawa) and FlexNetworks (Saskatchewan, Manitoba) offer competitive fibre and DIA options tailored to tech companies. Always have a backup connection with automatic failover through an SD-WAN or dual-WAN router.
Manufacturing / Industrial
Factories, warehouses, logistics operations, construction companies, and industrial facilities.
Why Internet Matters Here
Manufacturing and industrial businesses have traditionally been lighter internet users, but that’s changing fast. IoT sensors on production lines, automated inventory tracking, real-time fleet GPS and logistics platforms, cloud-based ERP systems (like SAP or NetSuite), and security camera systems with cloud storage all add up. Many industrial sites are also located outside urban cores, where fibre availability can be limited and fixed wireless or satellite may be the only option.
Critical Requirements
| Feature | Priority | Why It Matters |
|---|---|---|
| Reliability over speed | Critical | A 50 Mbps connection that never goes down is more valuable than 1 Gbps that’s intermittent |
| Backup/failover connectivity | Critical | If your ERP, fleet management, or order system goes offline, operations stall |
| Coverage across the facility | High | WiFi may need to cover a large warehouse or yard; consider industrial-grade access points |
| IoT device support | High | Sensors, scanners, and tracking devices need a segmented, reliable network |
| VPN access for remote management | Medium | Managers and IT staff often need remote access to systems and security cameras |
Our Recommendation
If fibre is available at your facility, a business fibre plan is the best foundation. If it’s not (common for industrial parks and rural facilities), a fixed wireless connection from a regional provider, combined with Starlink as backup, is a solid alternative. Prioritize reliability over raw speed. For facilities with IoT devices, work with an IT provider to segment your network so that sensors and production equipment are isolated from office traffic. If your location is in Saskatchewan or Manitoba, FlexNetworks serves many industrial areas with fibre.
Creative / Media
Video production studios, graphic design agencies, photography studios, marketing agencies, podcasters, and content creators.
Why Internet Matters Here
Creative businesses move massive files every day. A single hour of 4K video footage can be 100 GB or more. Photographers upload hundreds of RAW images (30 to 60 MB each). Design agencies constantly sync large project files through Dropbox, Google Drive, or Adobe Creative Cloud. Video editors collaborate remotely using tools like Frame.io. And cloud rendering services, AI-powered design tools, and stock media libraries all require fast, sustained bandwidth. Upload speed is especially critical for creative businesses, and this is where asymmetric cable connections fall short.
Critical Requirements
| Feature | Priority | Why It Matters |
|---|---|---|
| High symmetric upload | Critical | A 1 Gbps cable connection with 30 Mbps upload is useless for uploading 100 GB video files |
| Unlimited data | Critical | A busy production studio can easily transfer 5 to 10 TB per month |
| Low latency | High | Cloud-based editing tools and real-time collaboration are latency-sensitive |
| Consistent throughput | High | Large file transfers need sustained speed, not just burst speed; fibre delivers this, cable often doesn’t |
| Backup connection | Medium | Missing a deadline because your internet went down is costly, but not as critical as healthcare or retail |
Our Recommendation
Business fibre with symmetric speeds is non-negotiable for serious creative work. A 1 Gbps symmetric connection lets you upload a 100 GB video file in roughly 14 minutes. The same file on a cable connection with 30 Mbps upload would take over 7 hours. Bell Business Fibe and TELUS Business Fibre both offer symmetric speeds. Beanfield is an excellent option in Toronto, Montréal, Vancouver, and Ottawa with competitive fibre pricing. If you’re in a location without fibre access, this is one of the strongest cases for lobbying your landlord or building manager to bring it in.
How Internet Affects Your Staff
In 2026, the way your team works depends almost entirely on internet quality. This isn't an exaggeration. Cloud-based productivity suites (Microsoft 365, Google Workspace), VoIP phone systems, video conferencing, project management tools, CRM systems, and even AI assistants all require a stable, fast connection to function properly.
The practical impacts are immediate and measurable. A laggy VoIP call makes your business sound unprofessional. A stuttering video conference frustrates clients and wastes everyone's time. Slow cloud file syncing means your team is waiting instead of working. And if your connection drops entirely, remote workers are cut off and office staff can't access their tools.
Two factors matter more than raw download speed for staff productivity:
- Upload speed is often the bottleneck. Video calls, cloud file syncing, email with attachments, and VoIP all depend heavily on upload. This is why fibre (with symmetric upload and download) outperforms cable (which typically delivers 1,000 Mbps down but only 30 to 50 Mbps up) for business use.
- Latency and jitter affect real-time communication. You can have 1 Gbps of bandwidth and still have terrible VoIP quality if your latency is inconsistent. Fibre typically delivers 2 to 5 ms latency. Cable is usually 10 to 30 ms. Starlink ranges from 25 to 60 ms. For voice and video, lower and more consistent is better.
Hybrid and remote work note: If your team includes remote workers, your office internet quality only solves half the equation. Consider whether your business should provide guidelines or stipends for home internet quality, particularly for employees who are on client-facing video calls regularly.
How Internet Affects Your Customers
Your customers may never see your internet connection, but they feel it in every interaction. A slow-loading website costs you sales (studies consistently show that each additional second of page load time increases bounce rates significantly). A dropped VoIP call during a sales conversation loses the deal. An online booking system that times out sends the customer to your competitor.
Customer experience expectations are set by every digital interaction they have, not just your competitors. When someone books a medical appointment through a clinic portal, they're unconsciously comparing that experience to booking a dinner reservation on OpenTable or ordering from Amazon. The bar is high, and it's entirely set by companies with world-class infrastructure.
The most common ways internet connectivity directly affects customer experience:
- Payment processing speed and reliability. Customers expect tap-to-pay to work instantly. A three-second delay at the terminal feels broken.
- Website and online store performance. If your website is hosted on your premises or depends on your office connection for any functionality, your internet speed directly affects load times.
- Communication responsiveness. VoIP call quality, live chat response times, and email delivery all depend on your connection.
- Digital service delivery. Telehealth appointments, virtual consultations, online classes, and remote support sessions all require reliable video quality.
Internet and Cybersecurity
Your internet connection is both your business's biggest security asset and its biggest attack surface. Nearly every cybersecurity tool and practice in 2026 depends on reliable connectivity.
Cloud-based security tools (endpoint detection, email filtering, web filtering, and threat monitoring) all need a constant connection to function. If your internet goes down, your security tools may lose visibility into what's happening on your network. Cloud backups, the primary defense against ransomware, require consistent upload bandwidth. A business backing up 50 GB of data daily on a connection with 10 Mbps upload would need over 11 hours to complete that backup. On 100 Mbps upload, it takes just over an hour.
The backup bandwidth formula: Take your daily backup size in GB, multiply by 8 to convert to gigabits, then divide by your upload speed in Mbps. The result is the number of seconds the backup will take. For example: 50 GB × 8 = 400 Gb ÷ 100 Mbps = 4,000 seconds ≈ 67 minutes. If your backup is taking longer than your maintenance window allows, you need more upload bandwidth.
Key cybersecurity considerations related to internet infrastructure:
- Zero-trust architecture requires that every device and user authenticate continuously, which means constant internet connectivity to identity providers and security services.
- VPN access for remote workers requires a static IP and sufficient upload bandwidth at the office end to support all concurrent VPN connections.
- Network segmentation (isolating guest WiFi from your business network, separating IoT devices from workstations) is a fundamental security practice that good network design enables regardless of connection speed.
- Ransomware recovery depends on having recent, complete backups stored off-site. Cloud backups are only as good as the upload speed that feeds them.
Internet and Business Growth
Internet infrastructure is one of those things that doesn't drive growth directly, but will absolutely constrain it if it's not adequate. No business lost a customer because their internet was "too fast," but plenty have lost customers, employees, and opportunities because their connectivity couldn't keep up.
The practical growth considerations:
- Hiring and talent. Skilled workers in 2026 expect modern tools, reliable video conferencing, and the option to work remotely. A business that can't support a reliable Teams or Zoom call isn't going to attract top talent.
- Adding locations. When you open a second office, warehouse, or retail location, you need to connect it to your systems. SD-WAN solutions let you link multiple locations over standard internet connections, but they need adequate bandwidth at each site.
- Adopting new technology. AI tools, cloud ERP systems, IoT devices, and digital marketing platforms all require bandwidth. If your internet is already at capacity, every new tool you adopt makes everything else slower.
- Scalability of your connection. Fibre optic connections can typically be upgraded in speed without new physical infrastructure, since the fibre cable itself supports speeds far beyond what most businesses need today. Cable and DSL have physical speed limits that may require new infrastructure to overcome. When choosing a provider, ask about upgrade paths.
Planning ahead: When you sign a business internet contract (typically 1 to 3 years in Canada), consider where your business will be at the end of that term, not just where it is today. An extra $20 to $30 per month for a higher speed tier is cheap insurance against outgrowing your connection mid-contract.
Dealing with Internet Outages
The question isn't whether you'll experience an internet outage, it's when, and whether you're prepared for it. The July 2022 Rogers outage lasted up to 26 hours and affected over 12 million subscribers, taking down Interac payment processing nationwide in the process.
The cost of downtime depends entirely on your business. A simple way to estimate it: take your gross revenue for the month, divide by the number of business hours, and that's roughly what each hour of downtime costs in lost revenue alone, before you add in idle staff costs, missed opportunities, and customer frustration.
The only reliable protection is having a backup connection on a different carrier and a different technology (so that a single network failure doesn't take out both connections). Our internet outage strategies guide covers this in detail, and our reliability guide explains the differences between standard business internet and Dedicated Internet Access with SLA guarantees.
Find the right plan for your business
Our calculator recommends speed, connection type, and budget based on your actual needs.
Try the Business Internet CalculatorFrequently Asked Questions
What internet speed does my business need?
It depends on your industry, team size, and the applications you use. As a general rule, plan for 25 to 50 Mbps per employee for offices that rely on video conferencing and cloud applications. A 10-person office doing standard knowledge work should have at least 100 Mbps symmetric, with 300 Mbps being the comfortable sweet spot. Use our business internet calculator for a personalized recommendation.
Is residential internet good enough for a small business?
It depends on what you're doing. A solo freelancer working from home can often get by with residential fibre. But if you need a static IP, symmetric upload speeds, priority support, or VoIP phone service, a business plan is worth the 13 to 37% premium. The biggest gap is upload speed: residential cable plans from Rogers often deliver only 30 to 50 Mbps upload, while business fibre from Bell or TELUS gives you symmetric speeds. See our detailed comparison.
Do I need a backup internet connection?
If your business processes payments, uses VoIP phones, relies on cloud applications for daily operations, or would lose significant revenue during an outage, yes. The backup should be on a different carrier and ideally a different technology (for example, Bell fibre primary with Rogers LTE backup, or TELUS fibre primary with Starlink backup). A dual-WAN router that switches automatically between connections costs $100 to $500 and can pay for itself in a single avoided outage.
Why does upload speed matter so much for business?
Because modern business workflows are upload-heavy. Video calls send your video upstream. VoIP sends your voice upstream. Cloud file syncing uploads your documents. Email attachments are uploads. Cloud backups are uploads. If your connection is asymmetric (fast download, slow upload), all of these activities compete for limited upload bandwidth, and they all suffer. Fibre connections offer symmetric speeds, which is the single biggest practical advantage of business fibre over cable.
How do I choose between fibre, cable, and fixed wireless for my business?
Fibre is the best option for almost every business if it's available at your address: symmetric speeds, lowest latency, highest reliability, and the most scalable for future upgrades. Cable is a reasonable second choice for small businesses with light upload needs. Fixed wireless is a solid option where fibre and cable aren't available, particularly in rural and industrial areas. Starlink works well as a backup or for remote locations. Our last mile internet guide explains each technology in detail.
What should I look for in a business internet contract?
Key things to check: the contract term (1, 2, or 3 years), whether pricing is locked or subject to increase, what happens if you need to upgrade mid-contract, the SLA terms and financial credits for downtime (if any), installation fees, equipment rental charges, and early termination fees. Our business internet cost guide breaks down all of these factors with current Canadian pricing.
