When looking for a business broadband provider, you should consider more than the price.
Sufficient capacity to meet your business needs
A reliable service at times of increased activity
24/7 Support, fast response from our in-house engineers
An increasing amount of business customers relies on cloud-based services like office 365, Voice over IP phone systems and offsite data centres, all of which makes the need for a fast and reliable business broadband connection essential.
Most small businesses and sole traders can manage with a basic ADSL line, but growing businesses with increasing staff and businesses looking to utilise cloud services will need faster internet connections like Fibre to the cabinet FTTC or leased lines.
How much broadband do you need?
Most internet services are unlimited, meaning you can upload and download as much as you like with no additional usage charge. To assess your business requirements, you need to measure what happens during the day, how much demand at busy times is put on your internet connection.
As a rough guide:
Light Usage
basic email operations, light web browsing
Medium Usage
occasional file downloads, using web applications, streaming music/video, skype
Heavy Usage
large file downloads, web conferencing, intense web app use, multiple devices per user
When choosing your broadband connection, it should be capable of handling times of intense activity to ensure the smooth running of your business.
What options are available, and what are the differences?
Broadband
10
Mbps
Standard broadband (ADSL – Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) is an internet connection that is always on. This service uses a microfilter to split the frequencies for voice and internet on a single copper wire, so your phone line is never tied up when your internet is connected. This is a basic home broadband service that is sufficient for most home workers and entrepreneurs
Speed 128k – 10Mbps
Fibre Broadband
78
Mbps
Fibre broadband (FTTC – Fibre To The Cabinet) is a Fibre optic cable delivering a business broadband connection to your local cabinet at the speed of light. The remaining connection is delivered via copper wire, therefore the actual speed to receive is affected by how far away you are from your street cabinet. For broadband and phone (SIP trunking) fibre broadband delivers enough bandwidth for most small business.
Speed 10Mbps – 76Mbps
Full Fibre
500
Mbps
Full Fibre broadband (FTTP – Fibre To The Premises) is a pure fibre-optic broadband connection running from an Internet Service Provider (ISP) all the way to your business. Full Fibre supports symmetrical connections – meaning your upload and download speeds can be the same. Business phone systems, cloud software services, even video conferencing all running at the same time will run smoothly even at peak times.
Speed up to 500Mbps (FTTP is subject to a one-off connection fee)
Leased Line
1000
Mbps
All services above, ADSL, FTTC and even FTTP are ‘contended’ at the local exchange. This means that the central connection within your local exchange is shared between other businesses. Therefore the speed that you receive can vary due to other users on the exchange. Also, the upload speed is a fraction of the download speed.
A Leased Line is different because it is a dedicated full fibre connection from the ISP direct to your business and only your business. This means you get the full bandwidth you choose both as a download and an upload speed. For example, you could choose a 100/100MB DIA circuit and you would get 100MB download and 100MB upload. This is the ultimate business broadband service available where internet connectivity it critical.
Speeds up to 1,000Mbps (1 gigabit)
Some ISP’s can provide internet speeds of 1000Mbps or 1Gbps so it’s a big leap forward in connection speeds that could benefit you and your business into the future.
The UK Government has launched the Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme offering grants of up to £3,000 to cover the cost of installation. This is available to small to medium enterprises in the UK.
What is worth noting, is that 98% of the time the grant fully covers the installation, so in effect the installation is free.
How can Telesis help?
Evaluate > Install > Support
Our customer support team are technically qualified to evaluate your business broadband/data needs, from bandwidth requirements to equipment and cables to make sure everyone in your business is connected.
Our team of in-house engineer’s design & install your office computer network and cabling scheme. See Engineering. We design for business growth and by choosing Telesis as your Comms partner, our single point of contact support team will keep you online. With highly qualified help desk engineers we will attempt a remote fix, but when this is not possible we can deploy an engineer.
Also, with our superior data products, such as DIA circuits and leased lines, Telesis offers a 247/365 support centre with a four hour SLA.
Does your business require Mobile Broadband?
Having access to data services on the move can save time, offer better customer service and give you a real edge over your competitors. Data-only SIMs, dongles or MiFi’s, pay as you go or pay monthly contracts will keep your employees connected in the office, at home or in the field.
We have partnerships with the major carrier’s, Vodafone, O2 & EE. The difference is that we can bundle all network carrier’s together to give you a more bespoke package that will suit your business.
Frequently asked ‘Business Broadband’ questions
Why do you need a Static IP address?
With a static IP address, you can connect remotely to your server to exchange files, host a VPN (Virtual Private Network) and is suitable for applications that use VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol). You may also need a static IP for CCTV and homeworkers.
Should you provide Guest Wi-Fi?
For security we always recommend a separate Guest Wi-Fi (Wireless Fidelity). When giving guest access to your main WiFi you could be giving them access to files and data on your network. You may also consider doing this in your home as well as your business.
However, we can provide advanced WiFi networks that allow you to decide how much bandwidth you allow guest to take, how often the security or password is changed, and you can also exclude individual users.
Does Cat5 Cat5e cabling support gigabit?
CAT5 cannot, but CAT5E or CAT6 cabling can support Gigabit.
Cat5 unshielded twisted pair cable contains four twisted wire pairs. Fast Ethernet 100Base-T and 10Base-T use only two of these pairs, leaving two pairs unused. Gigabit Ethernet 1000Base-T uses all four pairs.
Broadband without Line Rental
Most broadband services use your phone line to deliver your internet services. The cost of the phone line is included – even if you don’t use a landline phone. Whilst it seems logical that a line delivering broadband only would be cheaper, the physical line must still be serviced and maintained.
