The Guide to Business Internet for Internet Cafes

Internet cafes of today are hard-pressed to compete with the wide availability of gadgets, devices and broadband connections that consumers now have. The competitive edge now lies in going above and beyond what consumers can enjoy in their own homes, be it hardware, software, or broadband. Here are three considerations that Internet café owners should take into account when choosing a suitable broadband plan in order to offer internet connectivity that far surpasses what consumers can have at home. Bandwidth To reduce operating costs, some cafes opt to choose plans with lower bandwidth in their café, instead of higher performance business internet plans, which affects the overall customer experience. Some broadband companies offer managed router services with network monitoring to monitor average bandwidth usage, which will help Internet café owners make informed decisions as to the type of network connectivity to go for. To maintain competitive advantage, the focus should be on optimal customer experience with superior internet connectivity. Therefore, it is always recommended that Internet cafes or internet-based business opt for corporate broadband plans. If you intend to run a game server in your internet cafe, do also take note of the difference betweendynamic and static IP addresses! Game servers almost always require a static IP address, so that choose the most appropriate one for your business needs, taking into account the scalability of your infrastructure as your business grows. Other benefits to corporate broadband plans include service level agreements, which help to regulate the quality of internet connectivity and a dedicated account manager to help you with any issues that may arise and resolve them quickly. Most even bundle VPN and Firewall in their broadband packages! Latency If there was ever a list of issues that irritate a gamer when she’s gaming, we daresay that lag would be pretty high on the list! High latency spoils the gameplay experience and is also the reason why hardcore gamers who don’t have stable internet connections at home visit internet cafes – even if their equipment at home far surpasses what the café can offer. Direct China Routing We’ve all had that one friend who ditched us in the middle of the game when they disconnected. Our favourite Chinese games, such as Demigods & Semi-Devils (天龙八部), Fantasy Journey to the West 2 (梦幻西游 2), etc. are often based on team cooperation, which of course requires suitably reliable, high-speed broadband connections. However, due to China’s stringent internet policies, many providers have issues linking directly into China. With Direct China Routing, consider engaging ISPs such as Pacific Internet that have existing infrastructure set up with the only 2 entry points into China – China Telecom and China Unicom – and are able to offer enhanced internet connectivity experiences with drastically lowered latency. For resiliency and redundancy, Pacific Internet also have connections with other telecoms that offer shorter paths into China. Internet cafes continue to be an important part of the gaming ecosystem – a gathering grounds for a burgeoning community of gamers. By continually upgrading themselves to provide gamers with improved gaming experiences, they can not only hold their own against the numerous home gaming setups, but also create a unique niche in the market for themselves over the years.