If you’re running a small business, then you need to make sure that you have the best broadband deal possible.
Many businesses assume that they need a dedicated line in order to get the most out of their broadband, but this isn’t always the case.
So, what’s business broadband? How is it different to residential or home broadband? And what can you do to make sure that you’re getting the most for your money?
What Is Business Broadband?
Business broadband connections are specifically designed for use in a professional setting.
Compared to home broadband, which is primarily used for personal use and entertainment, business broadband providers offer increased reliability, faster speeds, and other features that are specifically tailored to the needs of businesses.
One key difference between home and business broadband is the upload speeds.
Business connections tend to be much faster at uploading than home connections, allowing businesses to take advantage of applications and services that require higher bandwidth.
For example, streaming video or uploading audio files content can be challenging with a slower broadband speed, but with a reliable business broadband connection, the faster upload speeds mean that this type of content can be easily streamed without any issues or buffering delays.
When you take a look through some of the consumer broadband deals on offer, the upload speed are often incredibly low. Some residential broadband providers offer speeds as low as 10% of the download speeds.
In addition to average speeds, another area home broadband providers focus on is “extras” like TV deals.
With so many hidden additional features it’s hard to compare and this can make it difficult to decide between suppliers.
They almost always include a standard residential router, which sounds great when it’s “free” but then what if you want to move suppliers?
Home broadband providers rely on you staying put after the initial contract, by then the equipment is paid for and a big jump in price is when they start to make extra money.
Be sure to check the end of your deal and see if resigning gets you a better price.
If you aren’t happy and you want to move, you’ll have to change your device as they lock the equipment so that all your networking settings and any devices that connect will need reconfiguring.
This kind of stress often puts people off moving, so it’s a great way to lock you in but is it good for your business?
Why Are Business Broadband Packages More Expensive Than Home Broadband?
An important consideration when choosing a business broadband connection is reliability and so you need to know the equipment supplied is good enough.
Routers and WiFi access points that are supplied by residential providers are generally cheaply made and heavily subsidised and, as we alluded to, when compared over longer periods of time it can be a false economy.
An inside tip for home users would be to invest in your own networking equipment, so you get more control and if you change the internet service provider you won’t have to change your WiFi ID too. That can make setting up more expensive.
Businesses rely on their internet connection for critical tasks such as communicating with customers, processing transactions, and accessing cloud-based applications. A reliable business broadband connection needs a high-quality router to ensure that these tasks can be completed without any interruptions or downtime if your business.
Residential broadband routing equipment isn’t typically configured to give priority to business applications, they often come with a dynamic ip address rather than a static IP address, and the technical support can be limited. Opening these settings requires technical expertise that come with a price, so for economy most home broadband providers wont do it.
That really the key difference between the price of home and business broadband is the level of customer support that is available.
Because they fall under a different service level agreement than residential broadband, when businesses experience problems with their internet connection, they need to be able to reach customer support quickly to get the issue resolved as soon as possible and to speak to an agent who understand virtual private network (VPN) and IP address issues, and get more in-depth tech support to deal with even more complex technical needs.
With home broadband, customer support may not be as readily available or may not have the same level of expertise when it comes to resolving business-related issues.
Can You Get Business Broadband If You’re Running A Business From Home?
We have a number of business broadband packages available, including our Business Broadband and Business Fibre plans that can be delivered to a home address.
If you’re running a business from home, or need to connect key personnel to a high-quality connection our Business Broadband plans are designed specifically for you and come with a number of benefits to help make working from home easier, including:
– Up to 100Mbps upload speeds
– A static IP address
– UK-based customer support
When you’re looking for business broadband packages, it’s important to think about the upload speeds as well as the download speeds.
Make sure you are getting at least 30% of your total bandwidth from your upload speed to ensure your broadband connection can handle the traffic.
Business Broadband Deals
At Boxx we work with a number of dedicated business broadband providers, along with home broadband suppliers that offer quality broadband packages where a business broadband connection isn’t necessary.
Speak to Boxx today to see if broadband is good enough or whether you’d be better suited to a dedicated business line (leased lines).
We can advise on which package would be best for your situation and have years of experience in providing reliable and fast broadband connections for businesses of all sizes.
