Business broadband line registered as Residential?

dougalan

Dear all,

I run a small shop and have had broadband for about 6 years, fitted on a new line when I moved in. I thought now was about time to check what broadband deals were available to me. So armed with MAC code from my current supplier Tiscali/Talk Talk to whom I've been paying £17.99 I've been checking the business market and was about to go with BT's broadband option (upto 20mb for approx £20 + Vat and minus £60 cashback).

BUT

When I rang Tiscal/Talk Talk to see if they could offer anything better to stay I was told that my line was RESIDENTIAL not Business.

This opens up lots of moneysaving possibilties which I'm looking forward to investigating. The worry is that when I try to change will anyone notice that it isn't residential and refuse to migrate me.

Does anyone know if this is likely? I'd be grateful for any "insider's view"

Many thanks.

Adriaan

macman

Firstly, is your Tiscali line LLU'd? If so, you can't take your line rental back to any other supplier except BT for the first 12m.
https://www.samknows.com, then exchange search. Look for your LLU options.
If you don't actually need a 'business' service, it should not be a problem. At some point in the sign up you will be asked to declare that it is a residential not a business connection, but in reality the telecoms companies are not bothered. The only purpose of this clause is to stop you subsequently claiming that you lost that million pound deal because your phone line was down and now you want compensation...
Many (most?) people run small businesses from home on residential lines. The only downside is that if there is a line problem you may get it sorted out faster on a business contract.
Business lines are invariably more expensive and may lock you in for longer.

dougalan

Dear Macman,

Thank you for such a quick response.

My line rental is still with BT (something else I'll need to look into is my 'phone calls!) so at the moment it's just the broadband I need to move.

Having just changed my home broadband to O2, I'd be tempted to use them but while I'll get cashback I won't be getting the O2 user's discount since my mobile isn't registered to my work address - drat!.

That said, I should still make a substantial saving.

Thanks again.

Adriaan

s4lvatore

Just a quick one on this residential/business thing.

At my shop we have a business line, all incoming (very rarely to call out.

We dont need the net for work just to browse and mess about with during work so I thought i would be cheeky and try o2. Low and behold I got it no problems!

macman

A BT line is a BT line. There's no separate or distinct business network as such. If it comes up on the O2 checker as a valid BT number then that's all that is needed.

mk-donald

dougalan wrote: »

Having just changed my home broadband to O2, I'd be tempted to use them but while I'll get cashback I won't be getting the O2 user's discount since my mobile isn't registered to my work address - drat!.

There is no such restriction on the o2 mobile # used to claim discount - it can be in any name and at any address as long as the mobile #:
a) is used with user's permission (ie could be family/friend as long as you co-ordinate it with them, and are ready to readback/type the PIN# they send to the mobile to confirm the association with the home BB a/c)
b) is ONLY able to be linked to one o2 home broadband a/c for discount (so if you are already using yours for your first a/c discount you can't use the same mobile for a second a/c)
c) meets the contract/top-up criteria

Only TODAY I did a first draft of all the tips/tricks re o2 mobile and o2 home broadband - in the usual place for my Be/o2 docs, ie:
http://cid-99aa6cf1226facfe.skydrive.live.com/browse.aspx/o2%20Broadband%20-v-%20Be%20There%20Broadband

Do however have a look through the latest o2 T&Cs as I expect it covers the idea of business/residential usage (it certainly used to allow for SoHo type usage, I haven't reread the latest version - which I should).

MKD