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GPSolo eReport

GPSolo eReport January 2025

Ask Techie: Is 5G Internet a Good Business Solution for Law Firms?

David Kanarfogel and Wells Howard Anderson

Summary

  • This month’s tech Q&A column answers your questions about whether 5G Internet is a good business solution for law firms and what are the best free cloud storage options.
  • For solo and small law firms, 5G Internet can offer some real advantages, particularly if you don’t have the luxury of an IT department and are handling your own tech needs.
  • Numerous providers offer free storage space to back up selected files and folders. Your choice of vendors should be guided by factors including storage space, security, and sync options.
Ask Techie: Is 5G Internet a Good Business Solution for Law Firms?
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Q: Is 5G Internet a Good Business Solution for Law Firms?

My office phone carrier is offering 5G Internet as a business solution. What is it, will it work for me, and is it worth it?

A: 5G Internet is a relatively new option for getting Internet service in your home or office. It connects to the web via a cellular network and then distributes access to your internal network with a WiFi router. For solo and small law firms, this can offer some real advantages, particularly if you don’t have the luxury of an IT department and are handling your own tech needs.

5G Internet can deliver speeds comparable to high-speed wired options, which means it can handle all the basic functionality your practice is likely to need, such as email, cloud-based file-sharing, and video calls, without noticeable differences from your existing setup. Installation is quick and user friendly; it typically only needs a single device that combines the 5G receiver and WiFi router. If your existing phone carrier is offering 5G Internet as a bundle with your office or cell lines, you might save some money over other options as well.

The biggest downside of 5G Internet as a business solution is that it all depends on the strength of the 5G network in your physical office. In cities and other places with good 5G coverage, this option may work as seamlessly as a wired connection. However, if nearby buildings block cellular signals or you’re in an area where 5G is less reliable, you might see disruptions. And if you do have greater demands on your bandwidth (e.g., from many concurrent users or heavy video-streaming activity), then you also might see noticeably poorer performance compared to cable or fiber.

For a small or solo law firm that simply needs reliable Internet that can meet its basic usage needs, 5G Internet could be a viable alternative to cable or fiber if the coverage is there. If you’re considering it, ask your carrier about trial periods or return policies to test it out in your space first.

Techie: David Kanarfogel, JD, GPSolo eReport Contributing Technology Editor, is a founder and partner at Kanarfogel & Srolovitz LLP.

Q: What Are the Best Free Cloud Storage Options?

I’d like to protect my most important photos and files with an extra backup. What are some options?

A: You can sign up for a free cloud drive to use for redundant backups of your most precious data.

Do you have loads of old digital photos and maybe some treasured scanned documents? They deserve extra protection.

Computer backups are, of course, essential to protect you from losing everything in a disaster. If you use a good cloud backup company, store backup drives in another local location, or both, you are very safe.

But nothing is perfect. If disaster does strike, you’d feel a lot safer if you knew you weren’t 100 percent dependent on a single backup to restore all your most precious digital memories and records.

Free Cloud Drives

Google, Microsoft, and Apple all offer small amounts of free cloud storage. Their services can automatically back up and manage photographs and other files. Regrettably, you could lose access to these accounts for any number of reasons.

Don’t worry! You can add extra protection for free. Plenty of other companies offer you free storage space in their data centers. You can complement your normal backups with extra copies of selected files and folders.

Here is a comparison of several of the many free cloud drive options:

  • pCloud (5 to 10 GB free). One of my faves. Automatic backups, sync option, the ability to select any files and folders, good lifetime paid plans.
  • Koofr (10 GB free). Heavy emphasis on security and privacy. Based in the EU. Inexpensive monthly, annual, and lifetime plans.
  • Proton Drive (5 GB free). Reputable nonprofit with the best privacy and security. Based in Switzerland. Pricey for more space.
  • Icedrive (10 GB free). Highly secure with zero-knowledge technology. Normal pricing for larger plans.
  • Dropbox (2 GB free). Small free space. No small-size paid plans.

Concerned About Security?

Are you concerned about the cloud storage vendor, or anyone else, stealing your cloud files or snooping around in them? Use Cryptomator or Rclone to encrypt your files before they are uploaded to your cloud drive. They are both open-source, free, and well-maintained.

To ensure you don’t lose access to your cloud drive account or any encrypted files, keep your login and passwords in a secure place that you can reach in an emergency.

If you don’t choose to use the cloud for extra backups, consider using backup software and USB drives that you take to another location. But you’ll need to be diligent about running and rotating your backups. A cloud drive account can do that work for you automatically.

Techie: Wells H. Anderson, JD, GPSolo eReport Contributing Technology Editor and CEO of SecureMyFirm, can be reached at 952/922-1120 or through www.securemyfirm.com. Their focus is on protecting small firms from cyber threats with affordable, multiple layers of defense. 

What’s YOUR question?

If you have a technology question, please forward it to Managing Editor Rob Salkin ([email protected]) at your earliest convenience. Our response team selects the questions for response and publication. Our regular response team includes Jeffrey Allen, Wells H. Anderson, Ashley Hallene, Al Harrison, and Matthew Murrell. We publish submitted questions anonymously, just in case you do not want someone else to know you asked the question.

Please send in your questions today!

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