Internet failover means your office has a second internet connection that takes over automatically when the main one goes down. Paired with a cloud phone system set up to reroute calls, it keeps email, cloud apps and the main phone number working through most outages instead of leaving everyone waiting on the internet provider.
Most small offices run on a single internet line. That works fine until a construction crew cuts a cable down the street, a modem fails, or the provider has a regional outage. When the line drops, it takes more than web browsing with it: Microsoft 365, cloud accounting and practice management software, credit card terminals, remote access and, if you use a cloud phone system, your phones. This article explains the failover options, how the switch works, what to expect during one, and how to test it.
A single point of failure is any one thing that, if it breaks, stops the business. For most offices today, the internet connection is the biggest one. Even businesses with a local server usually depend on the internet for email, phones, backups and line-of-business software that lives in the cloud.
Outages come from many places: damaged cables, failed equipment at your office or the provider's, power problems, storms, and maintenance that runs long. You can't prevent most of these. You can make sure one of them doesn't take your whole office offline.
The best backup line is one that's unlikely to fail for the same reason as your main line. Common choices:
For example, cable internet from one company and fiber from another. This gives the best performance, but it only adds real protection if the two lines take different physical routes into the building and different paths through the neighborhood. Two providers sharing the same utility pole or conduit can be knocked out by the same accident. Ask each provider how service reaches your building.
A small antenna on the roof connects by radio to a provider's tower. It doesn't depend on buried or overhead cables near your office, which makes it a good complement to a wired line where it's available. Speeds and availability vary by location.
A cellular router or modem plugged into your firewall. It's the most common choice for small offices because it's quick to install and works almost anywhere with a decent signal. Speeds are usually fine for email, cloud apps and phone calls, though heavy file transfers may be slow. Check the data plan: some are built for occasional backup use and get expensive if the backup line ends up carrying a long outage.
Low-earth-orbit satellite service has become a practical backup for some locations, particularly where other options are limited. It needs a clear view of the sky and a place to mount the dish. Check the provider's business plan terms before relying on it.
Both connections plug into a business firewall that supports more than one internet connection, often called a dual-WAN firewall. The firewall constantly checks whether the main connection can actually reach the internet, not just whether the cable is plugged in. When those checks fail, it moves traffic to the backup line, usually within seconds to a minute or so depending on how it's configured. When the main line recovers, it moves traffic back.
Some firewalls can also use both lines at once, for example sending phone calls over one connection and everything else over the other. Our article on firewalls and network security covers what a business firewall does beyond failover.
Failover keeps the office working, but the switch itself isn't invisible. Set expectations with your team:
A cloud phone system gives you options that a traditional phone line can't, whether the problem is the internet connection or the whole building:
These features work best when they're set up and tested ahead of time. Our business VoIP phone systems page explains how NerdSquad sets up cloud phones for offices.
A backup internet line won't help if the equipment that runs it loses power. During a short power blip, your modem, firewall and network switch restart, and everything goes offline for a few minutes even if the internet itself never dropped.
Put the internet modem (both of them), the firewall, the main network switch and, if they use power-over-ethernet, the switch that powers your desk phones on a battery backup (UPS). A modest UPS can keep this core equipment running through brief outages and give you time for a controlled shutdown during longer ones. Battery backups wear out, so test them once a year. If the building loses power for an extended period, staff working from home with the phone app is usually the better plan; our hurricane season IT checklist covers that side.
Failover that hasn't been tested is a theory. Once it's set up, test it during a quiet time:
Repeat the test a couple of times a year, and after any change to your internet service or firewall. Also confirm that the firewall sends an alert when it fails over, so someone knows the main line is down even if the office barely noticed.
For most offices, adding failover is a modest project:
Multi-location businesses and teams with remote staff have a few extra considerations, covered in how we support multi-location practices and remote staff.
As a Managed Service Provider (MSP), NerdSquad designs, installs and monitors failover as part of managed IT services, so the backup line is watched and tested rather than forgotten in a closet.
Already a client? Call (239) 465-0079 or submit a ticket. If something is down, call so we can start right away.
Not a client yet? NerdSquad Managed IT Services is a Managed Service Provider (MSP) based in Naples, Florida. We support businesses onsite across Southwest Florida and remotely nationwide. Book a discovery call or call (239) 465-0079.
Related: Business VoIP phone systems