Best broadband provider for business ?

VixxAnn

Hi
Have broadband at home (through Metronet PAYG) and now looking to set up at work. Only need to get one PC online, no networking or anything complicated.
Have read through the broadband provider article on MSE and it seems to say for a new user (ie if you need modem etc) then Tiscali is one of the best at the moment. However, when I looked at the Tiscali site the prices for business users are totally different to the "normal" ones. Its quoting £19.99 mth for 512kbps and £29.99 for up to 1mb.

Any one know any better?

Savvy_Sue

Don't know about Tiscali but we use Free-Online at work through a BT line and are very happy with it.

koru

Tiscali have an APPALLING record of customer service.

Whoever you go with, consider whether you need a business service. Personally, I just use freedom2surf's normal package, in my own name, then recharge it to my business.

Their "business" packages are identical, except they charge 17.5% more. This is because businesses can recover VAT, so they think it is "fair" to charge more. (Which is a completely bogus reason, if you understand how the VAT system works.)

sophiedb

We recently signed up to Freedom 2 Surf's Connect Lite broadband, like koru (is that a kiwi name perchance? ) Two weeks in and no problems whatsoever, though I did get my extra microfilters via Stonehill Technologies on Ebay, just to save a little more.

Start up costs may be high compared to the bigger names, but as koru said Tiscali have a terrible rep - after reading some reviews I wouldn't even consider them.

Soph

Rockee

Tiscali seem to have had a lot of bad press recently including being featured on BBc Watchdog. I work from home and use a broadband service from a friend of mine who has a telecoms business. If you want me to have a word with him, then PM me.

Rockee

crunchy_with_ketchup

If useage isn't that heavy, you could use Metronet PAYG at work too. We stay under the IGB minimum, even with 5 PCs connected (mostly PT workers, and I'm the heaviest user). Most businesses wont be donwloading big media files (MP3s, videos etc) unless the staff have too much time on their hands.... Because the tarrif is capped, the highest rate is about £25 which is still competitive for business ADSL, but you could pay much less.

One word of warning, you can pay by cheque, but you only get 10 days to pay after they email your invoice, after that you get disconnected. No DD facility, but you can do a continous card authorisation.

Lindsay100

Check out https://www.nildram.co.uk we have stuck with them for years now, they are a couple of quid more than the likes of aol but worth it, excellent customer service, speed and relability.

katiepops_2

We signed up with AOL for the office, as they don't have a specific business package, so we just pay the normal home rate.

Kate

Edinburghlass_2

My small office did that too with AOL for dial up then when broadband appeared signed up for Tesco 512, uncapped at £17.97. Signed up under a personal name rather than a business name and it has been fine.

Applied for a domain name in the name of the business about a fiver for two years and you can use email redirect for free so the business email is not showing as tesco.net.