Sometimes you need to open your wallet and get faster internet.

I have a client, only 3 active computers with 5 on their small network. They have the slowest internet available to save money. They had to quit using Microsoft Outlook because it would time out when downloading email from this 768kb connection. Windows Live Mail (WLM) worked if only one person at a time was retrieving email. However WLM is no longer available. We went to EM Client which acts a lot like WLM, however it is not unusual for headers, images and even senders names not to download.

If I bring any of their computers to my office, open email everything is fine.
I had another client that I had to let go for this very reason. They moved into a community office that had community internet. They were getting 256k internet speeds and Outlook never quit trying to get email until it times out. They also were unable to get Security updates, Windows patches or browse the internet for business or pleasure. Once again, if I brought the computer to my office, everything worked, after the 600 plus emails downloaded.

Now imagine needing to email important papers, invoices, or photos. You are wasting more than the monthly cost of faster internet while waiting for those things to go through. Add the use of Dropbox, OneDrive, Google Drive and online backup programs and you have a never ending issue.

Moral of this lesson, if you don’t have at least a 1Mb connection per person using the internet you are not acting like a real business or even home internet user. I would suggest even more speed. Today it is common to have 1Gb (1,000Mb) service available in most communities where there is a city with 100,000 people or more.

Quit causing yourself and your IT folks frustration and get faster internet.

Until we meet again, have a virus free week.