Redefining Connectivity: How Starry Outperforms 5G, Fiber, and Cable

Executive Summary

In today’s connected world, internet outages are more than an inconvenience; they’re a costly disruption impacting revenue, productivity, and customer trust. For businesses dependent on reliable internet, selecting the right connectivity solution is crucial. Starry Business Internet offers an innovative fixed wireless solution that minimizes disruptions, streamlines installation, and delivers high-performance connectivity. This document compares Starry’s modern technology to traditional connectivity solutions—5G, fiber, and cable—and outlines why Starry is the preferred choice for forward-thinking businesses.

The stakes are high for maintaining connectivity: ITIC’s 11th annual Hourly Cost of Downtime Survey reveals that 97% of large enterprises (1,000+ employees) report an average cost of over $100,000 for each hour of downtime. Even more striking, 41% of enterprises estimate losses between $1 million and $5 million per hour of downtime. These figures highlight the need for reliable, resilient internet that can protect businesses from costly outages.

Understanding the Landscape: Starry’s Fixed Wireless Technology vs. 5G, Fiber, and Cable

While 5G, fiber, and cable each offer distinct benefits, they also come with limitations. Starry Business Internet combines the best features of these technologies, setting itself apart with rapid deployment, high reliability, and a proactive approach to uptime and support.

Below is a brief description of each technology to highlight how they work and how Starry differentiates itself.

Technology Overview:

• Starry Fixed Wireless: Delivers fast, highly reliable internet wirelessly. All customer equipment is professionally installed to ensure clear, consistent performance—with minimal disruption.
• 5G/LTE Wireless: Also transmits internet wirelessly but relies on self-installed indoor equipment, leading to variable speeds and reliability.
• Fiber: Transmits internet through fiber optic cables, providing fast speeds and highly-reliable connections. However, it can require extensive setup if it’s not available at your address and can be slow to repair.
• Cable/GPON: Utilizes coaxial cables to transmit internet. Its broad availability and consistent speeds make it an appealing solution but it can be slow to repair when there are issues.

Key Takeaways:

• Starry delivers consistent, high-bandwidth connections without data caps or interruptions.
• Starry installation is faster and less invasive, typically requiring days rather than months.
• Starry’s local, in-house support provides immediate response and minimizes downtime risks.
  

Part I: Starry Technology—Engineered for Reliability

Starry’s network architecture is designed to meet the demanding needs of business users. With multiple layers of redundancy and a robust infrastructure, Starry mitigates common failure points:

1. Rock-Solid Network Cores
   Starry’s network is housed in highly secure data centers with redundant connections to leading providers and cloud services. This ensures low-latency access and reliable connections, even if there is hardware failure within the network or among Starry’s partners.
2. Resilient Vertical Asset (VA) Infrastructure
   Starry’s VAs, located on tall structures throughout its service areas, create a layered protection system. Each VA site has:

• Dedicated power circuits and a DC power plant
• Battery backup and generator hookups

This setup reduces the risk of outages, even when competitors face extended downtimes due to power disruptions.

1. Network Endpoints
   Unlike fiber and cable installations, which are susceptible to physical damage (like construction cuts), Starry beams internet from Vertical Assets (VA) to business endpoints via point-to-point wireless links. This minimizes disruptions caused by physical line issues.
2. Proprietary Equipment & Proactive Monitoring
   Starry uses custom-designed hardware and software to monitor its network and client endpoints. This proprietary setup enables proactive maintenance, often addressing potential issues before they affect businesses.

Comparison with 5G/LTE Providers

Though 5G fixed wireless utilizes a similar network architecture, making it a flexible and easily deployed connectivity option, it often struggles with reliability and speed consistency because it relies on self-installed, indoor equipment that is easily obstructed by walls, furniture, and other physical barriers.

Starry’s dedicated fixed wireless solution avoids these limitations by utilizing sophisticated wireless radios that are professionally installed at the service address. For businesses requiring Dedicated Internet Access, Starry offers point-to-point connections for maximum reliability, while standard business deployments use point-to-multipoint technology, providing businesses with consistent performance and faster speeds than 5G technology.

Part II: How Starry Measures Up to Fiber and Cable

Fiber and cable are known for stable, high-speed connections but come with significant installation challenges, timeframes, and cost considerations. Starry bridges the gap between wireless flexibility and fiber-level reliability with a solution that doesn’t require complex, costly infrastructure:

1. Rapid Installation & Deployment
   Starry can install business internet in as few as five days, compared to fiber installations that may take months. This minimal deployment time, combined with a low-intrusion installation process, means businesses can start benefiting almost immediately.
2. Lower Installation and Maintenance Costs
   Unlike fiber, which requires extensive trenching and infrastructure, Starry’s fixed wireless solution eliminates the need for extensive ground disruption, making it both quicker and more affordable.
3. Robust Performance & High Bandwidth
   Starry’s infrastructure is built to handle high-speed demands. Businesses can access up to 10 Gigabit speeds—comparable to leading fiber providers—while benefiting from multiple backup paths that protect against common causes of outages.

Part III: Real-World Benefits of Choosing Starry for Business Internet

1. Enhanced Uptime & Business Continuity
   Starry’s infrastructure and proactive network management reduce the likelihood of outages, helping businesses avoid the productivity loss, customer dissatisfaction, and revenue impacts commonly associated with internet disruptions. Starry’s solution is on par with fiber in terms of robustness but offers enhanced resilience with its unique architecture.
2. Complement Existing Services
   Starry can serve as a reliable backup to an existing fiber or cable service, reducing potential outages with a secondary connection that is both high-speed and quickly deployable. This provides businesses with a seamless failover option without requiring the hefty costs of an additional fiber line.
3. Scalability for the Future
   As a flexible wireless provider, Starry is ready to scale with business needs, adding capacity and ensuring bandwidth as your organization grows, without the lengthy upgrade timelines typical with fiber or cable installations.

Conclusion

Starry Business Internet is uniquely suited to meet the demands of modern businesses, providing a combination of speed, resilience, and ease of deployment. With its robust technology infrastructure, quick installation, proactive support, and ability to complement existing services, Starry offers a future-ready connectivity solution that minimizes downtime and maximizes productivity.

For businesses looking to ensure high uptime, Starry presents an opportunity to innovate their connectivity strategy, improve resilience, and reduce the operational impacts of potential outages—all with a partner who prioritizes their success.

Want to learn more? Visit starry.com/business.