Eli the Computer Guy

Every customer wants a bargain, and every business wants profit.  When you add those two facts into the world of technology you end up with an unhappy mess.

Customers are… well customers.  You’re one, I’m one and your neighbor is one. We generally try to get the best bargain possible.  We bitch whine and moan about customers service and support, but then try to circumvent our contracts to get more then what we are paying for.  Many of us run web sites from our residential DSL connections.  We use the “Academic” versions of software to run critical business applications, and we signup for internet based services as individuals instead of business so that we don’t have to pay as much.  This is all normal, and par for the course.  The problem is people don’t really understand why there is a cost difference between Residential and Commercial products and services.

Let us delve into the world of business of a moment.  You see all the passionate hate you have for many of these companies is reciprocated by the companies towards Residential Clients.  Most companies don’t want to deal with residential clients.  They feel that residential clients are generally under educated about the products and services they are buying.  Many times when there is a problem it is actually the customers issue, but the customer doesn’t know enough about their own technology to realize that the Service Provider is not at fault.  The amount that the customer pays is not in line with the quality of service they expect to receive.

With Commercial Clients the providers can charge much more, and so can give much more in the way of service.  Not only this, but since the product of service is vital to the needs of the business the business will normally have someone on hand who understands the technology being used.  When a Residential Client calls customers support they will say “My Internet doesn’t work!”.  When a Commercial Client calls customers support they will say, “Our guys have looked at it and we have internal connectivity.  We can ping the router, but can’t get past that.  We have power cycled all of the networking equipment. There is an error light on the modem so we think…”  This then means that the service provider spends less time/ money on issues that are not their fault, and they don’t have to spend an inordinate amount of time trying to figure out what is going on.

Most service providers and manufacturers only deal with residential clients due to the aggregate numbers.  The products and services that are sold to residential consumers are sub par compared to the products and services sold to commercial clients.  The reason is that for the amount they can charge a residential client they simply can’t provide much in the way of support.  The goal is to pump out as much cheap product or service as possible, skip much in the way of quality control, and then deal with returned products or cancelled contracts.

An example of this is the networking equipment I sell to my business clients, and high end residential clients.  A Cisco Wireless Access Point costs $600.  A Linksys Wireless Access Point costs $60.  Too many of my business clients just look at the price tag.  “I’m not going to spend $600 when I can get something just as good for $60.”  What they fail to account for is the $60 item is not as good as the $600 one.  There is a reason that one is 10 times the cost of the other.  They then try to run their business off the $60 Access Point and wonder why everyone gets kicked off the network at least once a day.  Instead of realizing that they may need more expensive equipment, they the curse Linksys for their crappy gear.

My advice is that if you are a Residential Client,but need the stability of Commercial Services then buy the Commercial Version.  My home has Commercial Internet and Cisco Network Equipment.  The reason is that I need the same standards of service at my house that I have at my shop.  You will get much better service and support by paying a little extra.  If I have an Internet problem they will send the next available technician.  If I was a Residential Client they would get to me sometime this week… maybe?

If you are a Business trying to run off of Residential Products and Services you are asking for frustration and pain.  The Vendors REALLY don’t care much about Residential Clients.  The few bucks you’re trying to save by bargain shopping can be lost in the blink of an eye if your business can’t function for a day or more.  I have seen businesses with 20+ employees dependent on those crappy little Linksys Wireless Routers.  A single hour of down time can cost more then a Cisco Router professionally installed.  A few minutes of down time can cost more then the extra $20-$50 per month for Commercial internet Service.

When you are dealing with vendors that offer both Residential and Commercial products or services please realize that there is a real reason for the difference in price.  You really do get what you pay for.