Do you have unanswered questions about business broadband? Read our business broadband FAQs below. For more information about broadband in general (from contention ratios to GBs) visit our Broadband FAQs page. For broadband definitions look at our broadband glossary.

Read our business broadband FAQs

How do I find business broadband packages available in my area?    
What are the benefits of business broadband?   
Why is my business broadband so slow?   
How can I speed up my business broadband?   
How can I find out how fast my broadband is?   
Can I avoid long contracts for my business broadband?                 
How do I switch broadband internet providers?   
How can I get a good business broadband deal?    

How do I find business broadband packages available in my area?

You can either use our general broadband availability checker (in the left hand menu), making sure you select Business then Find, OR you can use our new business broadband availability checker. Follow the instructions below, then click Find, to view business-only broadband packages available in your area. 

What are the benefits of business broadband?

A broadband connection allows you to access the internet and still use your phone, nearly always for a fixed fee. Broadband is also much faster than dial-up.

Broadband download speeds start at 512kb while dial up speeds are typically around 57.6kb, so you can see that the slowest broadband is nearly ten times as fast as dial up.

In terms of business broadband, although a home broadband package may work for you if you are freelance and work from home, or you are just starting out with your business, as your business grows you may find you need more features and access to support facilities created especially for a business.

You don't have to employ lots of people to need a more robust business-focused broadband connection - if your business requires lots of downloading, you may need an unlimited download allowance. If you need to upload to the web a lot, eg to your own website, you may need a business broadband package with higher upload speeds - business packages often offer 448 or 823 kb upload speeds (note that as with download speeds, upload speeds are also always "up to" as so many factors can affect speed).

Why is my business broadband slow?

** NOTE ON BROADBAND SPEEDS: top speeds vary significantly, in particular because of a user’s distance from the local exchange. You should bear this in mind when selecting a broadband package.**

There are several possible reasons for slow broadband performance - your distance from your local exchange if you have ADSL or ADSL Max broadband (ie via your phone line) - the nearer you are to the exchange, the faster speeds your business broadband package should achieve. You can see where your exchange is By doing a search with your BT phone number on the UK Broadband Finder availability checker - on your results page click on Show Map.

Other factors to affect speed include the contention ratio, and the quality of the wires into your home. Contention ratio refers to how many users may be sharing the same line. Many residential broadband packages and some business broadband packages hve contention rations of 50:1, which could slow down your connection - so if it is vital to your business that you have regular fast internet access, you could consider a business broadband package with a contention ratio of 20:1 or lower.

How can I speed up my business broadband?

If you are on a lower speed package you could consider upgrading to a faster business broadband package - many now go up to 8Mb download speeds with some such as Be Office offering top speeds of 24Mb and upload speeds of up to 1.3Mb.

However if your current business broadband package is slow because of factors that would not be affected by changing package there are products available that will speed up your broadband, eg by reducing the size of each webpage before it downloads to your machine.

How can I find out how fast my broadband is?

Try our free broadband speed test here to view upload and download speeds on your current package (please note that we cannot guarantee the accuracy of the broadband speed test).

Can I avoid long contracts for my business broadband?

Most business broadband contracts are the standard 12 month contract - however several business broadband internet providers do offer contracts of different lengths.

How do I switch broadband internet providers?

How can I get a good business broadband deal?

Think about what you need from your business broadband package. A cheap business broadband deal may be ideal for you. Alternatively another business broadband package may cost more each month but include extras that you need such as a website builder tool, free domain names, access to website statistics or security for example.

Work out your budget . You can also look at what any extras - domain names, web space,  voice over broadband (VoIP) - would cost if you bought them separately.

If you are on a tight budget, you can look for good introductory deals but make sure you work out the cost over a full year, including any set up fees.

Set up fees for business broadband packages can sometimes be high so you may want to look at business broadband internet providers offering free set up.

Speak to other business owners about what they use - they may achieve different speeds to you but they should be able to advise you on what the customer or technical support was like.  You could also look on small business or broadband forums online to see what they recommend.

If you are happy to tie yourself into a longer contract, you could consider a 24-month contract  - these are often cheaper.

Are you switching provider? Some providers charge a lower monthly fee for their business broadband packages if you are switching.

Finally, look at our business broadband offers - these include some of our favourite current business broadband offers, and it shows the range of extras and discounts business broadband internet providers can provide.

 

 

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