Business broadband

About business broadband

Businesses these days rely heavily on the internet. Whether you’re a sole trader, running a small to medium enterprise, or even in big business, it’s likely that you use the internet daily for communication, collaborative working, and to help streamline business processes. Whatever you use it for, you need to ensure that your broadband connection is reliable, and that you get a broadband deal which offers you the best range of services.

As a business user, you will most likely have different requirements to a domestic broadband user. The obvious possibilities are that you may need a faster connection, with a larger download limit than you would be able to get with a domestic package. But it doesn’t stop there – you will probably also have requirements for a package with better support, better security, and more flexibility.

And that’s where business broadband comes in. Many broadband providers now offer packages specifically for businesses, with the specific needs of business broadband use in mind.

And even if you’re not a business user, sometimes business broadband packages can still work out to be your best bet – if you have a number of users under one roof, for example - in particular users who favour TV or video streaming, or online gaming and the like.

Why choose business broadband?

Speed and download limits. As mentioned, business broadband packages are often a little more generous with their download limits, and may offer faster connection speeds (up to 24Mbps).

Support. One of the attractive features of business broadband packages the extra support that’s available in case of problems. Your business probably depends pretty heavily on your broadband connection, and there can be nasty consequences of outages, up to and including lost business. With business broadband you will usually be given a free-phone support number, and there may even be service level agreements which mean that your supplier guarantees to fix the problem within a certain timescale.

Scalability. As your business grows, you’ll need your broadband package to be able to keep pace. Business broadband packages often feature several levels, catering to everyone from the person running their business at home, to small businesses with multiple users, networking requirements and so on. If your requirements get bigger, there will be a bigger business broadband package to suit.

Security. Malware, viruses, hackers and so on - while a relatively small risk - are a potential problem for all internet users - but for a business a major security breach could be ruinous. With this in mind, many broadband packages come with better security features than the standard domestic package, to ensure that your hardware, software and data are all secure.

Range of services. Running a business, the chances are that you’ll want to be able to do things with your connection that you just can’t do with domestic broadband due to its restrictions. For example you might want to run email servers or web servers, which you can’t do with domestic broadband because the ports required are usually blocked and because a static IP address is required. Business broadband is designed to allow all these sorts of extras. And in addition, a business broadband package may include free web space, email accounts, wireless routers or modems, access to Wi-Fi hotspots and more.

Things to consider when choosing business broadband

Perhaps the first thing to look at, whether you’re a business user or a heavy domestic user, is speed and data allowance. This will govern your everyday use of your broadband, so will probably be the first things you’ll want to know.

Next up is support. As this is one of the big advantages of business broadband over domestic packages, you’ll want to ensure that the one you choose has the level of support you need. You might want to see things like 24 hour free-phone support, SLAs and compensation packages.

Security is also worth considering. Are you getting better security than you would for a similar domestic package? Here you may be offered virus and spyware protection, a firewall, and possibly data backup services.

Lastly, look for all the extras required to run any services you will need for your business. If you will be running a networked office, check that the package supports networking; if you want to run mail servers, check that you will be given a static IP address; and if you want to make cheaper internet phone calls check whether VoIP is offered.

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