Who we write for
Office managers, owners and the one person who is good with computers and has therefore inherited the internet, at small offices, shops and branch locations with somewhere between three and fifty staff.
Everything here lives in one category, Business Internet: choosing between fiber, cable and wireless, understanding dedicated versus shared service, adding a backup connection, reading the contract, and designing Wi-Fi that holds up.
The idea behind the site
Business internet is sold by speed, and bought on the assumption that speed is what matters. For most small offices it is the least important number on the quote. What decides whether the connection is a problem is how it behaves when it is busy, how fast it is fixed when it fails, and what the contract says you can do about it.
Those are all knowable before signing, and almost none of them appear in the headline of an offer.
Principles
- We explain the mechanism before the offer. Knowing why shared connections slow down at the same time every afternoon tells you what to ask about. A comparison table of plans does not.
- We give ranges and name the variables. Speeds, prices and repair times depend on location, provider and plan. We do not quote a number we cannot tie to a variable.
- We say plainly when the premium option is not needed. A six-person office with ordinary cloud use rarely needs a dedicated circuit, and we say so.
- We name the failure mode. Every connection type fails in a characteristic way. Each article says how, and how to plan for it.
- We update rather than repost. Provider offerings and technology change. When they do, the original article is revised and the change noted.
Who writes here
Terrence Okafor — Editor. Terrence spent eleven years as a network engineer and then an account manager for a regional internet provider in Texas, selling and supporting circuits for small offices, clinics and retail sites. He has explained the difference between ‘up to’ and ‘committed’ speeds to more office managers than he can count, which is how this site’s editorial approach was formed. He writes LinkPath HQ for the person who has to choose the connection and then take the call when it fails.
Where we stop
Security and compliance. Network security, card-payment standards and any regulated-industry requirement are specialist subjects. We tell you that they exist and that your network design may affect them, and we send you to a qualified professional or the relevant standards body. We do not tell you what your business must do to comply.
Contract interpretation. We explain what the common terms in a business internet contract mean and which to ask about. We do not interpret your particular contract, and disputes belong with counsel.
Speed and uptime promises. We do not promise that any connection will deliver a particular speed or uptime. Providers publish service terms, and those, not an article, are what you are buying.
Funding
Running LinkPath HQ costs money, and two things cover it: display ads selected by third-party networks, and the occasional affiliate link. We never see the ads beforehand, advertisers cannot touch our copy, and a commission has never changed a conclusion — a good deal of our advice is to buy a cheaper backup line rather than a faster primary one, which earns us the least. The details are in the Disclaimer.
Corrections
Nobody is right all the time. Provider offerings change, and we make our own mistakes. Use the contact form to point out a mistake; we check it against the source, correct the article and say what we changed.
Contact us
Questions, disagreements and topic suggestions are welcome through our Contact page. We cannot test your connection or review your quote remotely, but we can usually tell you which two questions to put to the salesperson.