So we have over the last couple of years had cases where large areas of the phone system have been taken down by either criminal or negligent acts affecting the telephone infrastructure. We hear companies repeatedly saying they rely on their phones, card machines and internet for their businesses to work and they are badly affected if their phone line fails. There are several solutions for a small businesses and teleworkers but the best solution is being prepared for this as it will happen.
Being prepared
It's all very well saying I can tether my mobile to my laptop but in most cases you can't connect your card terminal to your mobile phone and one of the most major problems reported is the inability to make card transactions and "top ups". To this end there is only one real solution that is to use a 3G router that connects these devices together and gives access to the internet.
The second thing you should do is keep all the contact details for your telecom and internet suppliers in a safe place and know where it is, this will help in if you need to transfer your land line number to a mobile phone and redirection of your email if required.
When to buy
With 4G around the corner you may say "I'll leave it until 4G is available" but you could have a line fault next week and by the time it's repaired lost thousands over just a few busy days. The next great thing is always around the corner so invest now and upgrade in a few years when products are available and at a reasonable cost.
What to buy
Having looked at the products available and used quite a few I would recommend the NET-3G-434T from Solwise, this can connect to your current network and provide an automatic failover if required for all or part of your network and one analogue phone connection for your telephone, card terminal or both. You could also just leave it on the shelf ready for when it's needed with a PAYG sim card ready to register and add credit to if you can't or don't want to use your mobile phone sim card. (I have one from giffgaff.com as they have reasonable data bundles or you could chooses a supplier like Virgin Mobile) You also need to consider the availability and signal strength of each of the networks where you work, to this end there is an option for an external 3G antenna NET-3G-OMNI-A0121 that will allow you to receive a better signal in areas of poor reception.
If all else fails get a router with the ability to use a USB 3G dongle and a compatible USB 3G dongle from PC world remember SKY don't allow you to use your own hardware. If people read this and use this option when there is a large scale outage this kit will have sold out.
Being prepared
It's all very well saying I can tether my mobile to my laptop but in most cases you can't connect your card terminal to your mobile phone and one of the most major problems reported is the inability to make card transactions and "top ups". To this end there is only one real solution that is to use a 3G router that connects these devices together and gives access to the internet.
The second thing you should do is keep all the contact details for your telecom and internet suppliers in a safe place and know where it is, this will help in if you need to transfer your land line number to a mobile phone and redirection of your email if required.
When to buy
With 4G around the corner you may say "I'll leave it until 4G is available" but you could have a line fault next week and by the time it's repaired lost thousands over just a few busy days. The next great thing is always around the corner so invest now and upgrade in a few years when products are available and at a reasonable cost.
What to buy
Having looked at the products available and used quite a few I would recommend the NET-3G-434T from Solwise, this can connect to your current network and provide an automatic failover if required for all or part of your network and one analogue phone connection for your telephone, card terminal or both. You could also just leave it on the shelf ready for when it's needed with a PAYG sim card ready to register and add credit to if you can't or don't want to use your mobile phone sim card. (I have one from giffgaff.com as they have reasonable data bundles or you could chooses a supplier like Virgin Mobile) You also need to consider the availability and signal strength of each of the networks where you work, to this end there is an option for an external 3G antenna NET-3G-OMNI-A0121 that will allow you to receive a better signal in areas of poor reception.
If all else fails get a router with the ability to use a USB 3G dongle and a compatible USB 3G dongle from PC world remember SKY don't allow you to use your own hardware. If people read this and use this option when there is a large scale outage this kit will have sold out.