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Business Broadband

If you’re relying on broadband for your work, you may need to think a bit more about your choice of provider. It all comes down to what the impact is on your business if your broadband service was not working for a period of time.

Business broadband services are more appropriate for small offices and home offices, with larger companies opting for what are called ‘leased lines’ or ‘Ethernet circuits’. The difference between these is blurring somewhat with symmetric broadband services becoming more widespread. The key is understanding what you’re getting in terms of speed, latency, security and service level.

Key questions for business broadband

Here are some of the questions you should be asking when considering a broadband service for business:

1. How fast a service do you need? – If you’re uploading a lot of large files, you may find a faster upload speed is more important than the download speed, so a symmetric service is important.
2. How many devices will be using it? – If you have a larger office, your choice of router/wi-fi solution may well depend on how many users you have. Remember it’s not just how many people but how many devices.
3. How technical are you? – Do you have in-house IT support to deal with problems like Wi-Fi in the building, or do you want a solution from your provider that takes care of this?
4. Do you need a static IP address? – If you want to run some services like VPNs for staff to connect to the office, you may need to consider a static IPv4 address (or even multiple).
5. What happens when it goes down? – All services are at risk of downtime in the event of technical problems, which could be equipment failure or fibre lines being broken due to vandalism, weather or accidents. Do you have a plan for a backup route via another technology?
6. Who is responsible for your router and its security? – This becomes important if you’re CyberEssentials Certified, but all businesses should know who is responsible for making sure the router’s security updates are carried out and that it continues to be maintained.
7. What service level can you get? – Broadband providers may be able to sell enhanced service levels in terms of resilience (like multiple technologies and line failover/bonding). Also, they can sell better care packages, so your service will be fixed within a shorter time.

You also need to think about whether you want to offer guest Wi-Fi access, and how that’s managed securely.

Broadband for home working

Most people who work from home will use their home broadband connection, and this may be fine in most cases as you can usually go to the office if your broadband service breaks; however, if you’re always working from home without an office base and your service is critical to your work, you should make some plans on how to deal with a problem.

Reduce Risk – If you can have multiple services at your home (e.g. BT Fibre and Virgin Media Cable), you will reduce the chance of having problems affecting both at the same time. You could also have backup power plans in place to keep you online for some hours in the event of a power outage.

Mitigate Impact – If a problem happens, how do you respond? Have you tested using your mobile phone as a hotspot for your day-to-day work (including all types of work, from routine browsing to video conferencing?) Is there a co-working space you can get to if you don’t have an office you can switch to working from? If you have similar issues to other friends, you could have an arrangement to work from their home as well.

Our ISP Listings

As we have introduced new ISP listings, we are currently focusing mainly on residential packages in the first instance, although our testing has included adding some business packages. We will be adding more business broadband services over time.

What Is Business Broadband?

Business broadband is a broadband connection sold specifically for commercial use, with a different set of priorities to a standard home package. Most business broadband services run on the same underlying physical infrastructure as residential ones, whether that’s Openreach, Virgin Media’s network, or an independent full fibre provider. What you’re paying for is what sits on top of that: a formal Service Level Agreement (SLA), priority support, and features like static IP addresses that most residential packages don’t include.

It’s worth being aware that some business broadband plans are little more than a rebranded home package with a slightly higher price. If you’re comparing business broadband options, read the SLA terms carefully. A provider that guarantees to respond to a fault within a set window, and offers compensation if they miss it, is a meaningful step up from one that simply calls it “business” in the name.

Superfast and Ultrafast Business Broadband

Most small and medium business broadband connections in the UK now use some form of fibre. Superfast business broadband, delivered over fibre to the cabinet (FTTC), uses a fibre cable to a street cabinet but finishes the journey to your premises over old copper, which puts a ceiling on speeds of around 80Mbps down. This is fine for small teams with modest needs, but upload speeds on FTTC are typically very low, which can cause issues for businesses making regular video calls or uploading large files.

Ultrafast business broadband and full fibre business broadband (FTTP) deliver the fibre cable all the way into your building, removing the copper bottleneck entirely. This is the current gold standard for most small business broadband setups, giving you much higher speeds in both directions and a more consistent connection throughout the working day.

For businesses needing a guaranteed, uncontended connection, a dedicated business broadband leased line is the step up from FTTP. A leased line gives you business broadband Ethernet-grade performance: fixed symmetrical speeds, no sharing with other premises, and the strongest SLA terms available. It’s substantially more expensive and takes longer to install, but for businesses where internet access is directly tied to revenue, it’s worth pricing up alongside standard business broadband plans.

4G and 5G Business Broadband

If your premises can’t yet get full fibre, or you need a fast, flexible connection quickly, mobile business broadband is a practical alternative. 4G business broadband and 5G business broadband both use the mobile network to deliver internet access, either through a dedicated router or a dongle. A business broadband dongle is particularly useful for temporary sites, remote workers who move between locations, or as a failover when a fixed line goes down.

Unlimited 4G business broadband plans from the major mobile networks now offer enough data for day-to-day office use, and 5G business broadband can hit speeds comparable to superfast fixed-line packages in areas with good signal. The caveat is consistency: mobile speeds vary depending on signal strength, network load, and time of day in a way that fixed fibre connections generally don’t. For mobile business broadband as a primary connection, it’s worth testing signal quality at your specific premises before committing.

Wireless business broadband using fixed wireless access (FWA) technology is another option, particularly in rural or semi-rural areas where full fibre hasn’t arrived yet. It’s distinct from mobile broadband in that it uses a fixed outdoor antenna pointed at a local mast rather than a portable device, which tends to give more stable speeds.

Business Broadband Without a Landline

Most modern business broadband packages no longer require a traditional phone line. The old copper PSTN network is being switched off, and full fibre and SoGEA (Single Order Generic Ethernet Access) services work without a standard landline. If your business needs to make phone calls, a VoIP phone system can run over your broadband connection instead.

If you do want to keep your existing phone services alongside your internet, a business broadband and landline package bundles both. This would now be provided over the broadband service, but delivered by your ISP. Some providers also offer business broadband and calls plans with inclusive minutes to UK landlines and mobiles, which can simplify billing. Whether a bundle makes sense depends on your call volumes and whether you’re already planning to move to VoIP.

Business Broadband for Home Workers

Business broadband at home sits in a slightly different category to both standard home broadband and an office-based business connection. If you’re working from home full time and your connection is critical to your work, a business broadband for home package gives you access to the SLA, static IP and priority support that a standard home package won’t provide. It’s particularly useful if you’re running a VPN to connect to a company server, hosting services from home, or simply can’t afford an engineer visit that takes four working days.

That said, not everyone working from home needs a full business package. If you only occasionally work from home and have decent residential full fibre, the main gap between the two products may not be enough to justify the cost difference. Use the questions at the top of this guide as a checklist to decide.

How to Compare Business Broadband

Business broadband comparison is more involved than comparing home packages, mainly because the important differences don’t always show up in the headline speed or price. When you compare business broadband options, you need to look at:

• SLA terms: what’s the guaranteed fault response and fix time, and what compensation applies if those targets are missed?
• Upload speed: for most businesses, upload matters as much as download or more.
• Static IP: is it included, and how many do you get?
• Support hours: UK-based, business hours, 24/7?
• Contract length: business broadband monthly contract options exist but typically cost more. Longer terms often bring the price down.
• Business broadband availability: not every business broadband service is available at every address. Use a business broadband availability checker before spending time on quotes.

Business broadband rates vary considerably between providers and technologies. Getting two or three business broadband quotes from different suppliers before signing is always a good idea, and the right time to negotiate is before you’ve committed, not after.

Business Broadband in London

Businesses in and around the capital have some of the widest choice of any UK city. In addition to Openreach and Virgin Media’s networks, London has strong coverage from independent full fibre providers, giving businesses access to fast, symmetrical connections that often undercut the larger national names on price. Business broadband in London via an independent altnet can be worth exploring before defaulting to one of the household names, particularly in inner London where altnet coverage is strongest.

If you’re based outside the capital, the same principle applies locally. Business broadband availability varies significantly between areas, and a business broadband ISP that’s strong in one region may have no presence elsewhere. Always check what’s actually available at your postcode rather than assuming a national name covers you.

Finding the Best Business Broadband for Your Business

The best business broadband provider for your business won’t be the same as the best one for someone else. A sole trader working from home has very different needs to a ten-person office running cloud software and VoIP phones all day. The right business broadband service is the one that gives you the speed and reliability your work actually requires, with a support structure you can rely on if something goes wrong, at a price that makes sense for what you get.

Our ISP listings include a growing number of business broadband services from providers across the UK. As more are added, you’ll be able to compare business broadband packages directly and check availability at your address. In the meantime, if you’re looking for business broadband near me options, using a business broadband availability checker with your postcode is the fastest route to seeing what’s genuinely on offer where you are.