Small business broadband - commercial premises

sophiedb

Hi all, I've looked around this forum and the small business one, but most of the answers relate to people whose businesses operate from home.

I've been checking out the various business providers and Tiscali seem to have a good deal at the moment (512Mb @ £19.99 per month, unlimited download, webspace etc), but I'm worried that I might be missing another provider who could do better.

I'm also unsure about PAYG broadband - I really don't know what our usage is, especially since we don't use internet much yet (due to the fact that our fax machine and credit card doohickey use the same line - very inconvenient - and EXPENSIVE!).

Any advice gratefully received!!

Soph

(also posted on small business forum)

sco0ter

Never been to sure on the whole Business Broadband thing myself. I know that AOL and UKOnline will give thier home services to small business customers. AOL has been supplying a service for a while to a friend of mine who owns his own business at his Business premises. Ukonline even list the name of his Business when he puts in his postcode (he's going to change to the £19.99 2MB package)I think it all has to do with the web space and what you can do with it.

According to BT Yahoo Business Broadband it can be used for the following.

Making the most of Business Broadband

Once you’re using Business Broadband you’ll want applications that make the most of your new faster internet connection. BT offer many useful applications, but to get you started, during your broadband order you can also get:

• Static IP addresses: Essential for advanced Internet usage like running your own local email server, web server or video conferencing.
• Internet Business Pack: Give your business a professional online presence with your own domain name, 100 more email addresses, website, and much more.
• Internet Security Pack: Protect your computers with automatically updated advanced firewall and anti-virus protection.
• Internet Trader Pack: Set-up an online store to sell your products and services with confidence and ease.


This And unlimited downloads seems to be the only differences with thier Home package. If anyone can clarify this more please do.


One thing I would say and that is stay away from Tiscali. It might be different for Business customers but plain residential customers get a real bad time from them

chatmonkey

hey sophie, glad you asked this cos i was wondering about using a domestic broadband tariff in a small business (want to offer free wireless access to customers in a coffee shop).

did anyone say you couldn't use their regular tariffs in a business setting?

sophiedb wrote:

I'm also unsure about PAYG broadband - I really don't know what our usage is, especially since we don't use internet much yet (due to the fact that our fax machine and credit card doohickey use the same line - very inconvenient - and EXPENSIVE!).

there's a little programme that i downloaded which measures your internet usage (i got it to be able to see if download limits would be a problem cos like you i have no idea how much i use). anyway it's free and straightforward, available at http://readerror.gmxhome.de/