The difference between home and business broadband connections

In the past, when home internet connections were limited to dial-up speeds, business people keen to get online were often forced to pay out for expensive solutions like ISDN to overcome the technological shortcomings of the time and access internet services. In recent years, the speed differences between home and commercial connections have decreased, leaving many small business owners on a tight budget tempted to try and get by with a home connection. However, there are numerous advantages that make a dedicated business broadband package by far the best choice for any entrepreneur.



One of the biggest differences between home and business broadband packages is that business services come with a enhanced technical support. Every minute your connection is slow or, worse, not online at all, can translate directly into money lost so business broadband providers understand the importance of getting you back online as soon as possible. Most companies offer priority technical services for business customers as well as less congested telephone support lines. Some providers offer Service Level Agreements that guarantee that problems will be fixed within a specified timeframe.

Business packages also generally offer better speed over their domestic counterparts. Once again, connection speed is directly linked to productivity in many businesses so paying for increased bandwidth is usually well worth it. Many business solutions include increased upload as well as download speeds, which is very important for uploading files, allowing staff to work remotely, handling email and running and updating your own website.



Another typical feature of business broadband offerings is a reduced contention ratio. Contention ratio refers to the number of users connected to the same server and for home connections may be as high as 50 users per server, written as 50:1. Most business solutions offer contention ratios of 20:1 or better, meaning that far fewer users are connected to each server. This means less demand on servers at peak times which results in increased connection speeds and more stability at peak times, helping keep your business online when it is most important.



Many business broadband packages include additional services that are not always included in typical home packages, including static IP addresses, improved security and additional email accounts. Business broadband with phone is a particularly popular extra service and provides an enterprise level phone connection at greatly reduced cost. Business providers may also offer more advanced features that allow you to run your own email and web servers or log in to your work computer from a machine at home or anywhere else in the world.



Business broadband connections are well worth the extra cost over domestic solutions and the extra features and support are specially designed to keep you and your company productive. A small investment in your broadband connection can pay dividends in the long run.



Paul Buchanan writes for a digital marketing agency. This article has been commissioned by a client. This article is not designed to promote, but should be considered professional content.