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A guide to business broadband

Introduction

If you’ve been comparing business broadband with domestic broadband, you may be wondering why there’s such a difference in price. Because the needs of a business are far more demanding than those of a consumer, for this reason business packages come with a whole host of additional features that you probably didn’t know your business couldn’t do with out.   We will explore these features and help you to decide if your business needs to spend the extra cash on business broadband.

Technical Support

Support levels are the most important part of a business broadband package, but you probably don’t realize this yet. With home broadband the support generally consists of a premium rate telephone number which you can call if your having problems. Minor problems can be rectified through this method but there will be little or no guarantee of service levels. If your domestic broadband fails due to a major fault, it can take weeks, or in extreme cases months for your ISP to solve the problem. For any business relying on their internet connection at any level, loosing your broadband for a month is clearly not acceptable, and with almost all home broadband deals you run this risk. Before signing up to a broadband package it is worth checking that there is service level agreement which is in line with your business needs. Some providers will offer a support line which will give you access to an engineer straight away, and will often give guarantees that your service will be restored within a set period of time.

Security

Imagine if your important business files or customers personal details got into the wrong hands, the newspapers may make a meal of it and your good name would be ruined. I’m sure you’ll agree that security is of utmost importance to any reputable company. Most business broadband packages will come with additional security to help secure your network. For further assistance on security why not read our guide to internet security.

Scalability

Business broadband providers offer packages at differing levels in order to cater for different sized business, a self employed plumber will have far differing needs than an estate agent with 30 branches and 200 staff. As most business grow, you can also grow your broadband to the next level with very little effort.

Restrictions

A business broadband customer is likely to need to complete tasks that the average home user will not, as such there are several features that you will require that are generally not available on home broadband packages. If for example you run a chain of stores and the computer systems are all interlinked, there is a very good chance that you will require the use of a static IP address in order that your systems work correctly and efficiently. An IP address is a unique number given to your internet connection. Most home broadband providers allocate a new IP number every time the user connects to the internet, as in the example above this would cause serious operational issues. Most business broadband providers will give you a static IP address, so that every time you connect you retain the same number, depending upon your requirements this could be essential.

Speed & Download Limits

As with domestic broadband you need to select a package speed that is suitable for your usage requirements. Business plans are generally quicker than domestic packages, and the download limits tend to be a lot greater. One thing you must look out for is the upload speed. The main purpose of domestic broadband involves the downloading of data, in business you may need to upload as much as you download, so make sure your upload speed is good.

Can a business use domestic broadband?

It is always worth consulting the relevant ISP's Terms & Conditions. However as a general rule, most ISP's would have no problems with a business using domestic broadband, as long as it was to a domestic property. If you try to order domestic broadband to a commercial/industrial property the ISP will probably just say no.  Need help switching provider >  Compare business broadband deals >