Overview

Business internet differs from residential in several key ways: service level agreements (SLAs) with uptime guarantees, faster fault response times, static IP addresses, and priority traffic routing. The additional cost is almost always justified.

Step 1: Assess Your Bandwidth Needs

Calculate what speed you actually need before shopping.

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Bandwidth Calculator

Basic rule: 5-10 Mbps per employee for standard office work (email, web, cloud apps)
Video conferencing: Add 3-5 Mbps per simultaneous call (HD video)
Cloud applications (Salesforce, SharePoint, ERP): Add 10-20 Mbps for heavy usage
Large file transfers: Factor in average file sizes and transfer frequency
VoIP phone system: Add 100 Kbps per concurrent call
Example: 20 employees x 8 Mbps average = 160 Mbps minimum download speed
Always add 50% headroom for peak usage periods and future growth

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Upload Speed Matters

Most broadband is asymmetric: fast download, slow upload
Cloud backup, sending large emails, video calls rely heavily on upload
If your team uploads large files regularly, you need symmetric speeds
Leased lines offer equal upload and download (symmetric)
Standard FTTC: 80 Mbps down but only 20 Mbps up, may bottleneck
FTTP and leased lines offer much better upload speeds

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Reliability Requirements

Standard broadband: 95-99% uptime, best-effort fault response
Business broadband: 99.5% uptime, same-day or next-business-day support
Leased line: 99.9%+ uptime, 4-hour fault fix SLA, proactive monitoring
Critical question: What does one hour of internet downtime cost your business?
If downtime costs exceed the monthly price difference, upgrade immediately
Consider 4G/5G failover for critical connectivity, auto-switches when primary fails

Step 2: Connection Options

Compare available business internet types.

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Business Broadband (FTTC/FTTP)

FTTC (Fibre to Cabinet): Up to 80/20 Mbps, widely available, from 25 pounds/month
FTTP (Fibre to Premises): Up to 1 Gbps symmetric, growing availability, from 40 pounds/month
Business packages include: Static IP, priority support, SLA
Suitable for most small businesses with 1-20 employees
Contention ratio means speeds vary at peak times (typically 20:1 to 50:1)
Good for: Email, web browsing, cloud apps, occasional video calls
Installation: Usually within 2-4 weeks

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Leased Lines

Dedicated, uncontended connection: guaranteed speed at all times
Symmetric: Upload speed equals download speed
100 Mbps from 200 pounds/month, 1 Gbps from 400 pounds/month
Strict SLA with financial penalties if provider fails uptime commitment
Contention ratio 1:1, the speed is yours alone
Essential for businesses relying on cloud services, VoIP, or video conferencing
Installation typically takes 30-90 days, plan well ahead
Good for: 10+ employees, heavy cloud usage, VoIP phone systems

Pro Tip:

If your business depends on internet connectivity for revenue (online sales, cloud-hosted CRM, VoIP phone system), a leased line typically pays for itself in prevented downtime and productivity gains.

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Backup and Failover

4G/5G backup: Router with SIM card that activates when primary fails, from 20 pounds/month
SD-WAN: Bonds multiple connections for automatic failover and load balancing
Dual broadband: Two separate lines from different providers for redundancy
Configure automatic failover so users are not disrupted
Test failover regularly to ensure it actually works
Critical for any business where internet downtime stops work entirely

Step 3: Migration and Setup

Switch to your new connection smoothly.

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Migration Planning

Order new connection while keeping existing one active
Allow overlap period: Run both connections simultaneously for 2-4 weeks
Update DNS records if hosting services (reduce TTL before migration)
Schedule the switchover for a low-traffic period (evening or weekend)
Test all critical services on the new connection before decommissioning the old one
Notify your team about the migration schedule and any expected disruption

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Post-Migration Checks

Run speed tests from multiple devices at different times of day
Test video conferencing quality and VoIP call clarity
Verify VPN connectivity for remote workers
Test failover to backup connection if configured
Monitor for the first month and compare against expected performance
Contact provider immediately if speeds don't match the service agreement

Overview

Step 1: Assess Your Bandwidth Needs

Bandwidth Calculator

Upload Speed Matters

Reliability Requirements

Step 2: Connection Options

Business Broadband (FTTC/FTTP)

Leased Lines

Backup and Failover

Step 3: Migration and Setup

Migration Planning

Post-Migration Checks

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