A small business with big broadband need

In 2004, Len Yanoff found himself in the same situation as millions of small business owners across the US—trying to operate without broadband access. His business, Central Office, located in suburban Northern Virginia, was less than 30 miles from Washington, DC, yet outside the reach of terrestrial broadband services. But for Len, broadband was a “must have.”

In addition to being a small business itself, Central Office services small business needs, offering full computer services including custom computer design, network services and installation, and computer repair, as well as packing/shipping and printing/copying services. “There is no other way to offer the services in this store without high-speed Internet service,” said Yanoff. “And Hughes was the only vendor available that provided the broadband capabilities I need to run my business. Case closed.”

Making the customer central
Central Office is designed to be just that—a central location for any office need that small office/home office-based businesses and consumers might have. You can compare Central Office to a marriage of a Kinko’s, a UPS Store, and a computer store, then add in the benefits of personal service that only a neighborhood business can offer. With just four full- and parttime employees at its Potomac Falls, Virginia location, and given the nature of the business, Yanoff cannot waste time with slow dial-up services, nor can he afford more costly T-1 service.

“HughesNet broadband satellite to the rescue,” said Yanoff. “If you tried to offer our services using a dial-up connection, you could go to sleep, come back the next day, and it still wouldn’t be done. It’s that simple.” Simply stated, Yanoff’s customers receive efficient, reliable, and timely service because of HughesNet. Using the HughesNet Small Office service plan, Central Office connects to both United Parcel and Federal Express interactive services, receive large printing files for copying and printing via email, and updates software for custom computer design.

One of Yanoff’s part-time college interns explained, “When we do a custom job, we have to download updates from Microsoft, which in many cases range from being very small files to incredibly large files. Downloading updates a few times a week adds up to a bit of traffic. It gets to be stressful if it’s trickling in at 56kpbs.”

Central Office also depends on the HughesNet service for many day-to-day online tasks to support the business, such as accounting, online banking, bill paying, and researching new products and services. “There is no aspect of the HughesNet service that hasn’t worked for me, that didn’t provide what I needed when I needed it,” said Yanoff. “We’ve never missed a beat.”

Broadband on a budget
Yanoff discovered HughesNet when he began looking into broadband options to help him expand the computer services portion of the business several years ago. The shopping center in which Central Office is located was not wired for cable or DSL, and the cost of installing a T-1 line was financially prohibitive.

Yanoff found HughesNet in a magazine and began the process of acquiring Hughes’ satellite services. For the last several years, he has become increasingly appreciative of HughesNet’s continued availability matched by its affordability. “The whole issue is that there is a source for high-speed Internet services that is not tied to wired services,” said Yanoff. “If it’s difficult to get landline services, HughesNet offers the best, most economically viable approach to getting high-speed Internet service access. Hughes was the only vendor that gave me everything I needed to run my business.”

In 2007, Central Office upgraded to the HN7000 modem, gaining even higher bandwidth and performance. According to Yanoff, the upgrade provided speeds “equal to or better than DSL speeds in some cases.”

“[The HN7000] offers me the capability to do everything I want online,” said Yanoff. “The combination of access speed and the right service plan provides everything I need at the right price.”

Installation done right
When Hughes updated Central Office’s hardware, the installation went seamlessly. According to Yanoff, the installer showed up early and the whole process took three hours.

“I was back online with no real loss of capabilities or effort on our part,” he said, “Anyone in my situation needs to know that there is highspeed Internet available that isn’t tied to wireline service.”