How to connect multiple sites: dedicated internet, private network and backup

Dedicated internet at each site

Dedicated internet access is a fiber connection with capacity reserved for your company, and it’s symmetrical: upload matches download, so video calls, cloud backups and IP telephony don’t compete for upstream bandwidth. It matters most at sites that work in the cloud.

If you need to publish services, or want your PBX and your vendors to always find you at the same address, add static public IPs. Each site’s capacity depends on its users and applications; the bandwidth calculator on our dedicated internet page gives you a first estimate.

A private network between sites

With a private IP VPN/MPLS network, your sites talk to each other inside the carrier’s network, without crossing the public internet. You can prioritize voice and critical applications over other traffic, and choose the topology: every site to every site, or every site to a central hub.

A key decision is where each site reaches the internet: centrally through one site, which makes it easier to apply the same security policies, or locally at each site, which keeps all traffic from going through a single point.

Dedicated point-⁠to-⁠point links

When two locations exchange a lot of traffic, such as a plant and its head office, or a site and the data center where your servers live, a dedicated link gives them an exclusive connection with reserved capacity.

VPN over the internet for small sites

At sites where a dedicated link isn’t justified, or for people working outside the office, we design encrypted VPN tunnels over the internet that join them to your main network. Assessed for each project based on your sites, systems and access policies.

In an IP VPN/MPLS network, traffic between sites travels over the carrier’s private network, with priorities by traffic type. An internet VPN encrypts traffic, but its performance depends on each site’s internet connection. That’s why many networks combine both: MPLS for the main sites and VPN for small ones or for remote access.

A backup link is a second path that keeps a site connected if the primary fails. We design it project by project, because the right backup technology depends on each site survey. When we design it with you, we look at three things:

• That it doesn’t share the primary’s point of failure: a backup that enters along the same route doesn’t help.
• How traffic fails over to the backup and how it fails back when the primary recovers.
• Which services keep running first during an outage: tills, telephony or production systems, based on your initial list.

Backup feasibility and technology depend on each site survey; they’re assessed for each project.

Retail chain

Tills, inventory and cameras from every store travel to headquarters over the private network; headquarters has dedicated internet and usually a backup, because if it stops, every store stops.

Network of clinics

Sites share health records and scheduling from a central system. Those that see patients need a backup designed so appointments don’t stop.

Plant, warehouses and office

A dedicated link joins the plant with the head office, and the private network adds the warehouses. Voice can run with priority over the same network, using a cloud PBX or a SIP trunk.

SD-⁠WAN decides which link each application uses and switches paths if one degrades, all from a single console. It makes sense with many sites and several links per site. We assess SD-⁠WAN with you through a feasibility review before recommending it; we do the same for direct cloud connections and managed Wi-⁠Fi.

1. You tell us where your sites are, which systems they share and what can’t stop.
2. We check each address to see which access is viable there before designing.
3. We design the network: topology, capacity per site, priorities and internet breakout.
4. We connect site by site and test communication between them.
5. We hand over a working network and extend it when you open new sites.

Hablame has been a licensed carrier since 2009: the same team can run connectivity, telephony and digital channels for all your sites. If your network will also carry voice, the guide SIP trunking or cloud PBX will help you choose.