Frequently Asked Questions
Business Telecom FAQ.
Straight answers about how Speedstream works.
We’re a carrier-agnostic telecom broker. Here’s exactly how we work, what we offer, and what to expect.
Who We Are
About Speedstream
Shopping for telecom is a real time sink. Comparing carriers, sitting through sales calls, decoding contract language. It adds up fast. We do all of that for you.
We’re carrier-agnostic, which means we work with all major carriers and recommend whoever fits your business best. No loyalty to one network. We know how carriers price, where the hidden catches are, and how to get you the rate a carrier rep won’t volunteer. Then we stay with you after the deal closes.
You get a dedicated contact for the life of your account. When something goes wrong with a carrier, you call us and we handle it. You don’t get bounced to a call center. We show you what fits, explain why, and let you decide.
Most brokers close the deal and move on. We treat the account as a long-term relationship. Renewals, expansions, new locations, carrier issues: it all stays with us. As your business changes, we adjust with you.
Across the board. We work with small businesses, regional chains, large multi-site operations, and everything in between. Healthcare, manufacturing, legal, retail, logistics, auto dealerships, senior living. If your business depends on reliable connectivity, we’ve almost certainly worked with someone in your space.
Yes. Single-location businesses are a big part of what we do. You don’t need a large footprint to benefit from an independent review of your current telecom setup and pricing. In many cases, a single-location business is overpaying simply because no one has ever looked at their options with fresh eyes.
How It Works
Pricing & Process
The service is identical. Same network, same speeds, same SLA. The difference is who’s watching out for you. A carrier rep moves on after the sale. We’re looking to be your telecom partner long-term: through renewals, growth, and carrier changes if it ever comes to that.
The only way our model works is if you’re getting a good deal and staying happy. Keeping your rates competitive isn’t just good ethics, it’s how we stay in business.
Our core services don’t cost you anything. The review, the comparison, the sourcing, the negotiation. You get a dedicated advisor who compares 200+ carriers, negotiates the right deal, and stays with your account. Carriers compensate us directly, the same way they compensate their own reps. The difference is our incentive is to find you the best fit, not sell you one carrier’s product.
A few options, depending on where you are in the term. We’ll help you understand what’s in your contract: early termination provisions worth weighing, services you’re paying for but not using, and upcoming renewal windows that give us leverage. Sometimes it makes sense to wait. Sometimes it doesn’t. We’ll tell you which.
It depends on what you’re installing. A best-effort broadband connection can be up in a few days to a couple of weeks. Dedicated fiber or solutions that require carrier construction typically take 60 to 90 days. We give you a realistic timeline upfront, not a best-case guess, so your team can plan around it.
Connectivity
Business Internet
Dedicated fiber gives you a private circuit with symmetric upload and download speeds. Shared broadband runs over a carrier’s shared infrastructure, so speeds can dip during peak hours and upload is typically a fraction of download. For your primary office, dedicated is usually the right call. For branch locations or backup links, shared broadband can be a smart fit.
It depends on the connection type. Coax and shared broadband can be installed in 2 to 4 weeks using existing infrastructure. Dedicated fiber typically takes 60 to 90 days because it requires a physical build-out to your location. We coordinate the full timeline with the carrier and your IT team so you know exactly what to expect.
On a dedicated circuit, speeds are guaranteed by SLA and don’t degrade over the contract term. On shared broadband, real-world throughput can fluctuate based on neighborhood usage. When we source your circuit, we’ll tell you which type you’re getting and what the SLA actually covers, not just the advertised headline speed.
You call us, not the carrier. We contact the support queue directly, track the ticket, and push for resolution. If you have a failover connection, we’ll confirm it’s active so your operations aren’t interrupted. You don’t navigate the provider’s 800 number alone. That’s part of what staying with your account means.
Communications
Voice & Phone Systems
Two things protect you. First, a failover connection activates automatically. Second, hosted phone systems detect when your data drops and reroute calls to your mobile app. Your business number keeps ringing on your cell phone, same number, no interruption, no setup required.
Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) covers internal team communications: calling, video conferencing, chat, and file sharing on one cloud platform. Contact Center as a Service (CCaaS) is built for customer-facing teams: inbound call queues, agent routing, IVR, and interaction analytics.
Some businesses need one. Some need both. Speedstream compares UCaaS and CCaaS platforms across 50+ providers and helps you figure out which applies before you sign anything.
No. Most businesses port their primary numbers first and cut over in stages. We coordinate the migration so your team has working phones throughout the transition. You’re not starting from a dead line on day one.
Yes. Number porting is standard and we handle the coordination. The process typically takes 2 to 4 weeks depending on your current carrier. Your existing numbers stay with you. Clients and contacts keep calling the same numbers. Nothing changes on their end.
Infrastructure
Security & Networking
Most MSPs handle IT support and basic monitoring, but they are not specialized cybersecurity firms. We source advanced threat detection, compliance frameworks, and security architecture that goes well beyond standard MSP capabilities. We also work alongside your MSP so there is no disruption to your existing support.
We source solutions aligned with HIPAA, PCI-DSS, SOC 2, GDPR, and CMMC. We help architect environments that satisfy both regulatory auditors and cyber insurance underwriters. If your industry has a compliance requirement, we’ve dealt with it.
SD-WAN (Software-Defined Wide Area Network) uses software to intelligently route traffic across multiple internet connections. Instead of depending on a single expensive MPLS circuit, SD-WAN combines fiber, broadband, LTE, and other connections into one network. It automatically sends each application over the best available path based on real-time conditions.
For businesses with multiple locations or heavy cloud usage, SD-WAN typically reduces WAN costs while improving reliability. We compare platforms across carriers and find the right fit for your specific traffic patterns.
Properly configured failover solutions typically switch in under 120 seconds. Some setups achieve sub-30-second failover depending on the hardware and carrier configuration. We review the expected switchover time when sourcing your specific solution so you know what to plan for before an outage happens.
Typically yes, but the requirement depends on your setup. Most dual-circuit failover solutions use a router with failover capabilities built in. If you already have compatible hardware, we’ll tell you. If not, we’ll source the right equipment as part of the solution. Hardware recommendations come before the contract, not after.
Multi-Location
Multi-Site & Coverage
Two locations is the minimum where aggregation starts producing results. You get one bill and a single point of contact immediately. Five or more locations is where portfolio leverage starts changing carrier pricing and contract terms. The more sites you have, the more a carrier is willing to compete for the full book.
Yes. We are not asking you to rip out everything. If a contract is working and priced fairly, we keep it. The goal is to optimize the portfolio, not force unnecessary changes. We build around what works and replace what doesn’t.
Anywhere in the United States. We work with all major carriers and have options for hard-to-reach and rural locations that carriers tend to underprice or quietly skip. If you’ve had trouble getting decent coverage somewhere, it’s worth asking. That’s exactly where an independent review helps most.
In most cases, yes. We coordinate the cutover closely with your IT team or MSP. We plan the transition so your team knows exactly when it’s happening and what to expect. Most clients see no interruption at all. When a brief maintenance window is required, we schedule it during low-traffic hours and confirm it with you in advance.
It depends on the number of locations and complexity. A 3-location consolidation typically takes 4 to 8 weeks. Larger portfolios with 10 or more locations can take 2 to 4 months. We phase the rollout so each location is stable before moving to the next, and we stay in contact with your team throughout.
Ready to Start
Still have questions? Let’s talk through it.
Just reach out. We’ll review your current setup and tell you what we see. No pressure, no commitment. If we can find you a better deal, we’ll show you the numbers. If not, we’ll tell you that too.
Let’s Talk