Unlike consumer broadband where you pick the fastest package available at your postcode, business broadband requirements are driven by your operations — how many users, what applications, whether VoIP calls share the line, whether downtime costs you money, and whether a single connection is acceptable or you need failover. Get those answers wrong and you'll either overpay for capacity you don't use, or underspecify and find your phone system cutting out on a busy Monday morning.
Why business broadband can't be compared like consumer broadband
Two businesses on the same street can need completely different solutions — one needs a leased line with a 4-hour SLA and load balancing across two connections; the other is fine with FTTP and a 4G backup SIM. Availability, technology, SLA, hardware, resilience and speed all interact. That's why we assess requirements first and match solutions second — rather than showing you a list of packages ranked by price.
We supply business broadband through
BT Wholesale
Gamma
TalkTalk Business
ITS Technology Group
City Fibre
Community Fibre
Virgin Business
Starlink
We can connect any UK business regardless of location — from central London on City Fibre to a rural site on Starlink.
Step 1 — Work out what your business actually needs
Before looking at technology or providers, answer these questions. They determine everything else.
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How many users?
Each user browsing, on video calls, or using cloud apps adds bandwidth demand. 1–5 users have very different needs to 50+. VoIP calls add approximately 100kbps each on top of general usage.
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What applications do you run?
Cloud-heavy businesses (Microsoft 365, CRM, hosted telephony) need reliable low-latency connections. Video conferencing, file uploads and backups all consume bandwidth. On-premise servers change the upload requirement significantly.
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Are you running VoIP?
VoIP is sensitive to latency, jitter and packet loss — far more than general web traffic. If your phone system runs over the internet, your broadband connection directly affects call quality. QoS (Quality of Service) router configuration is essential.
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What does downtime cost you?
If your internet goes down for 4 hours, is that inconvenient or does it cost you thousands in lost sales, missed calls, or inability to process payments? Your answer determines whether you need a resilience solution and what SLA you need on a fault fix.
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Upload or download?
Most FTTC and FTTP connections are asymmetric — download much faster than upload. If your business uploads large files, runs servers, or streams outbound video, you may need a symmetric connection — which means a leased line.
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Single connection or resilience?
Do you need one connection or two? If downtime has a direct cost, load balancing or failover across two connections is the answer. Bear in mind that if you run VoIP, CCTV or VPN over the connection, you'll need a static IP address provisioned on both connections — not just the primary.
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Where are you located?
Availability determines everything. City centre businesses often have access to full fibre and leased lines from multiple providers. Rural businesses may find FTTC is the fastest fixed option — or no fibre at all, in which case 4G/5G or Starlink becomes the primary connection.
How much speed do you need?
A rough guide based on typical UK business usage — general web browsing, cloud applications, video calls, and VoIP running simultaneously.
1–5 users
SOTAP, SoGEA or FTTP
5–20 users
FTTP 100–300Mbps recommended
20–50 users
FTTP 500Mbps–1Gbps or leased line
50–200 users
Leased line recommended
200+ users
Leased line — contact us
VoIP adds to the calculation
Each simultaneous VoIP call uses approximately 100kbps. A 20-seat office with 10 people on calls at peak time needs 1Mbps just for voice — on top of everything else. Factor this in when sizing your connection, and ensure your router is configured with QoS to prioritise voice traffic over general data.
Connection types explained
The technology that delivers your broadband is as important as the speed. Each has different characteristics for reliability, latency, upload speed, and availability.
SoGEA and SOTAP — what small businesses migrating off PSTN need to know
Traditional FTTC broadband required a separate phone line (WLR). SoGEA and SOTAP replace that model — broadband-only products over the Openreach copper network with no phone line required. For small businesses switching to VoIP ahead of the January 2027 deadline, this removes an unnecessary cost from day one.
SoGEA (Single Order Generic Ethernet Access) and SOTAP (Single Order Transitional Access Product) deliver broadband over the Openreach copper network without requiring a traditional phone line. This makes them ideal for small businesses migrating off PSTN — you get your broadband connection without paying for a phone line you no longer need. FTTC remains available where SoGEA/SOTAP isn't yet provisioned.
Fibre runs to the green cabinet on your street, then copper wire from the cabinet to your premises. Speed varies with distance from the cabinet.
All FTTC services run on BT Wholesale Openreach infrastructure
Regardless of which provider you buy your FTTC, SoGEA or SOTAP service from — BT, Gamma, TalkTalk, or any other reseller — the underlying physical network is always BT Openreach. The SLA, engineer response times and fault resolution are all governed by Openreach standards. Your reseller manages the commercial relationship and support, but the engineer who comes to fix a fault works for Openreach.
Download speedUp to 80Mbps
Upload speedUp to 20Mbps
Latency10–30ms typical
Phone line requiredNo — broadband only
Underlying networkBT Openreach
SLA48 working hours (end of following working day)
Good for: 1–5 users
PSTN migration
No phone line needed
Budget-conscious
Full fibre runs directly to your building with no copper in the path. Faster, more reliable and more consistent than FTTC — speed doesn't degrade with distance. Available from BT Openreach, ITS Technology Group (Faster Britain), City Fibre, Community Fibre and others depending on your postcode.
Download speed100Mbps – 2.5Gbps
Upload speedUp to 1Gbps+
Latency5–15ms typical
Availability~70% UK business premises
SLABusiness SLA options available
Good for: 5–50 users
VoIP
Cloud-heavy
Video conferencing
A dedicated fibre circuit from your premises to the internet exchange — not shared with anyone else. Symmetrical upload and download, guaranteed speeds, and enterprise SLAs with fault fix times measured in hours. The gold standard for businesses where connectivity is business-critical.
Download speed10Mbps – 10Gbps
Upload speedSymmetric — same as download
Latency<5ms typical
AvailabilityMost UK business locations
SLA4-hour fix SLA standard
Good for: 20+ users
Mission-critical
High upload
Contact centres
4G and 5G can serve as a primary connection for businesses that can't get adequate fixed-line broadband, or as a failover that kicks in automatically if the primary connection fails. As an MVNO we supply business SIM and router solutions for both primary and backup use.
Download speed50–300Mbps (varies by location)
Upload speed10–50Mbps typical
Latency20–50ms 4G / 10–20ms 5G
Availability99%+ UK coverage (4G)
SLABest efforts on mobile network
Good for: failover
Temporary sites
Rural primary
Pop-up
Starlink Business uses SpaceX's low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite constellation to deliver high-speed broadband to locations where fixed-line infrastructure simply doesn't exist or isn't good enough. Unlike traditional geostationary satellite (which suffers from 600ms+ latency), Starlink operates at 550km altitude — delivering latency low enough to run VoIP calls and video conferencing reliably.
This makes it genuinely transformative for rural UK businesses, farms, remote offices, construction sites, temporary locations, and any premises where FTTC delivers 5Mbps on a good day. Speeds of 100–220Mbps are typical for Starlink Business, with latency of 20–40ms — comparable to good 4G.
We install Starlink for UK businesses
Starlink hardware is ordered directly through SpaceX, but professional installation makes a significant difference — correct dish positioning for unobstructed sky view, weatherproof cabling, integration with your existing network, router configuration, and failover setup. Broadgate Voice & Data handle Starlink installations across the UK.
Contact us about Starlink installation →
Typical speed100–220Mbps
Latency20–40ms
CoverageEntire UK
VoIP capableYes
Best for: rural businesses
No fixed-line available
Construction sites
Temporary locations
Failover for fixed line
Which connection type do you need?
| Your situation |
Recommended connection |
Why |
| 1–5 users, light use, migrating off PSTN |
SoGEA, SOTAP or FTTP where available |
SoGEA and SOTAP deliver broadband without a separate phone line — the right entry point for small businesses switching to VoIP. FTTP where available gives better speed and reliability. |
| 5–30 users, VoIP, cloud apps |
FTTP — 100–500Mbps |
Full fibre gives the low latency and consistent speeds VoIP needs. Add 4G failover for resilience. |
| 30+ users or high upload requirements |
Leased line |
Symmetric speeds, uncontended, enterprise SLA. Worth the premium when downtime has a direct cost. |
| Mission-critical — can't lose connectivity |
Leased line + 4G/5G failover or load balancing |
Two separate connections — different technologies, different failure modes. Both active or one on standby depending on requirement. |
| Rural — poor or no fixed-line available |
Starlink Business (primary) + 4G backup |
Starlink delivers 100–220Mbps anywhere in the UK regardless of local infrastructure. We install and configure. |
| Construction site / temporary location |
4G/5G router or Starlink |
No installation lead time. 4G router is up in minutes. Starlink takes a day to install but gives higher speeds. |
| Multiple sites needing consistent connectivity |
Managed solution across sites — contact us |
Multi-site connectivity requirements vary significantly by location. We assess each site and build a consistent solution. |
Resilience — failover and load balancing
A single broadband connection — however good — has a single point of failure. For businesses that can't afford downtime, resilience means having a second connection that either takes over automatically when the first fails, or shares the load alongside it.
Basic
4G/5G Failover SIM
A 4G or 5G SIM in your managed router provides automatic failover if your primary connection drops. Traffic switches to mobile within seconds. Costs a few pounds per month for the SIM. Not as fast as your primary connection but keeps you operational. As an MVNO we supply business SIMs specifically for this purpose.
Recommended
Dual WAN Load Balancing
Two active connections — typically FTTP and 4G/5G, or two separate fixed lines — running simultaneously through a managed router. Traffic is distributed across both connections. Either can fail and the other carries on. Also increases total available bandwidth. The right choice for businesses where continuity is non-negotiable.
Enterprise
Diverse Path Leased Lines
Two leased lines delivered via physically separate routes into your building — different carriers, different cable paths. If one is cut or fails at the exchange, the other continues. The highest level of resilience available. Suited to data centres, financial services, and businesses with zero-downtime requirements.
Resilience requires the right hardware
Failover and load balancing only work if your router supports multiple WAN connections and is correctly configured with automatic failover rules. A home router cannot do this. See the managed router section below for how we handle this as part of every broadband solution we supply.
The router — why it matters more than most businesses realise
The router is the device that connects your broadband line to your internal network. It's also the device that manages traffic prioritisation, failover switching, VPN access, firewall rules and security. Get it wrong and none of the broadband specification matters — a poor router will bottleneck a leased line, drop VoIP calls on an otherwise solid FTTP connection, and leave your network exposed.
Home router vs business router
For a very small office with a few users and non-sensitive data, a home router can seem adequate. It isn't. Home routers lack the processing power to handle multiple simultaneous VPN sessions, don't support QoS configuration for VoIP traffic, receive infrequent security updates, and have no management interface for monitoring or fault diagnosis. As your team grows, a home router becomes a bottleneck and a security liability — not an inconvenience, an actual risk.
A business-grade router is built for a commercial environment. The differences that matter in practice:
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Security updates
Business routers receive regular firmware security updates from the manufacturer. Home routers often go months or years without updates — leaving known vulnerabilities unpatched. For any business handling customer data, payment information or confidential records, an unpatched router is a direct compliance and security risk.
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QoS for VoIP
Quality of Service (QoS) allows the router to prioritise voice traffic over general data. Without it, a large file download or a video stream can cause VoIP calls to break up or drop entirely. Properly configured QoS is essential if you're running a hosted phone system over the same connection as general internet use.
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Failover and load balancing
Dual WAN failover and load balancing — where a second connection takes over if the primary fails — requires a router that supports multiple WAN inputs and automatic failover rules. Home routers have a single WAN port and no failover capability. This is hardware that only business routers provide.
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VPN and remote access
If your team works remotely and needs secure access to office systems, a business router handles VPN termination directly — meaning remote workers connect securely without additional software complexity. Home routers either lack VPN support entirely or handle it so poorly that performance is unusable.
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Uptime and replacement
When a home router breaks, you buy a new one from a shop and spend an afternoon reconfiguring it from scratch. When a managed business router develops a fault, we identify it remotely, dispatch a replacement pre-configured to your exact setup, and minimise downtime. The configuration lives with us — not in your head.
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Monitoring and visibility
Business routers provide traffic monitoring, usage logs, and alerts. You can see what's consuming bandwidth, identify security anomalies, and diagnose connection issues before they become outages. Home routers provide none of this.
We supply and manage routers as part of every broadband solution
All broadband connections we supply include a business-grade managed router — pre-configured for your connection type, VoIP QoS settings, failover rules if applicable, and ongoing remote management. If your router develops a fault, we see it before you do in most cases. Replacement units are pre-configured and shipped same day. You never need to touch the router — that's our job.
SLAs — how fast does a fault get fixed?
Service Level Agreements define how quickly your provider must respond to and fix a fault. For business broadband this matters far more than for home broadband — and the reality of standard SLAs is something most businesses don't fully understand until they're sitting through an outage.
The standard SLA — end of the following working day
The standard SLA on all non-leased line broadband connections in the UK is resolution by the end of the following working day — not next day, not same day. That means a fault raised Monday morning doesn't have to be fixed until end of Tuesday. A fault raised Friday afternoon means your provider has until end of Wednesday to fix it — that's 48 working hours from point of raise. Over a bank holiday weekend that extends further still. For a business that depends on its internet connection for phones, payments and cloud systems, that is potentially 5 days or more without connectivity — and your provider is operating within their contracted terms throughout. This is not a worst-case scenario. It happens regularly.
| Connection type |
Standard SLA |
Worst case real-world scenario |
SOTAP / SoGEA / FTTC
All providers — BT Openreach network |
End of following working day (48 working hours) |
Fault Friday PM — provider has until end of Wednesday. Bank holiday extends this further. Applies regardless of which reseller you buy from — the Openreach SLA is the same. |
FTTP (standard)
Openreach / ITS / CityFibre / Virgin |
End of following working day (48 working hours) |
Same as above on Openreach FTTP. ITS, CityFibre and Virgin operate their own networks — SLAs vary by provider and product tier. |
| BT Standard Care |
40 clock hours |
Clock hours — not working hours. Runs continuously so weekends and evenings count. Fault Friday 5pm: fixed by Monday 9am target. |
| BT Enhanced Care |
20 clock hours |
Fault Friday 5pm: target fix Saturday 1pm. Faster response, proactive fault management. |
| BT Halo for Business |
6-hour fix target |
Premium add-on. Proactive monitoring, 6-hour fix target, and 4G/5G mobile data backup included to keep you online during a fault. |
| Leased line |
4-hour fix SLA — 24/7/365 |
Engineer on site within 4 hours regardless of day or time. Financial penalties if breached. Bank holidays make no difference. |
| 4G/5G failover |
No fix SLA on mobile network |
Mobile networks operate best efforts — but as a backup, this keeps you running while your primary connection is being fixed. |
Clock hours vs working hours — an important distinction
BT's SLA tiers are measured in clock hours, which run continuously including evenings and weekends. This is actually more favourable than a working-hours SLA in many cases — a 40 clock hour SLA from Friday 5pm means a target fix by Sunday 9am, whereas a working-hours SLA from the same start point could mean Wednesday. When comparing SLAs across providers, always check whether the hours quoted are clock hours or working hours.
The practical answer regardless of SLA tier
If your business cannot tolerate a multi-day outage, the solution isn't paying a modest premium for a marginally faster SLA on a single connection — it's having a second connection on a different technology. A 4G failover SIM costs a few pounds a month and keeps you operational regardless of how long your primary takes to fix. A leased line with a 4-hour SLA removes the problem entirely for mission-critical operations. We build the right resilience into every solution we supply.
Do you need a static IP address?
A static IP address is one that never changes. Most standard broadband connections use dynamic IPs that change periodically. For many businesses this doesn't matter — but for some it's essential.
You need a static IP if you run:
- A VoIP phone system with SIP trunks registered to an IP address
- CCTV or security systems with remote access
- An on-premise server accessible from outside your network
- A VPN configured to connect to a fixed address
- Remote desktop or remote access tools that authenticate by IP
Load balancing and failover — you need a static IP on both connections
If you're running two connections for load balancing or failover, a static IP is required on both — not just the primary. If your secondary connection uses a dynamic IP, SIP trunks and VPN sessions that depend on a fixed address will fail to reconnect automatically when traffic switches over. That defeats the purpose of having resilience in the first place. When we configure a dual WAN setup, we ensure static IPs are provisioned on both connections as part of the build.
Static IPs are available on business broadband products as standard or for a small additional cost. We configure this as part of the setup — it's not something you need to manage yourself.
Frequently asked questions
Can I get business broadband checked for my postcode before committing? +
Yes — we check availability across all our wholesale partners (BT, Gamma, TalkTalk, ITS Technology Group, City Fibre, Community Fibre) for your specific postcode before recommending anything. There's no point discussing FTTP pricing if it's not available at your address. Call us on 020 8081 0410 or submit an enquiry and we'll run the check as the first step.
What's the difference between business broadband and home broadband? +
Business broadband products include features that consumer packages don't: static IP addresses, faster fault resolution SLAs, traffic prioritisation, higher contention ratios (fewer users sharing the same infrastructure), and dedicated business support lines. They're also VAT-reclaimable. For a business that depends on its internet connection, the difference matters significantly when something goes wrong.
How long does installation take? +
FTTC and FTTP installations typically take 10–20 working days from order. Leased lines take longer — typically 40–90 days depending on the route and any civils work required. 4G/5G routers can be up and running within days. Starlink hardware ships from SpaceX directly; once received, we schedule installation. If you have an urgent requirement, call us and we'll advise on the fastest available option for your location.
Do I need to replace my broadband to switch to VoIP? +
Not necessarily — many businesses successfully run VoIP on existing FTTC or FTTP connections. What matters is the quality and consistency of the connection, not just the speed. If your current broadband is reliable and your managed router has voice traffic correctly prioritised over general data, it may be perfectly adequate. We assess this as part of the VoIP migration process and will tell you if your current connection needs upgrading before you switch.
Can Starlink support a VoIP phone system? +
Yes. Starlink Business delivers latency of 20–40ms which is low enough for VoIP calls. It's significantly better than traditional satellite broadband (which has 600ms+ latency and cannot support VoIP). Businesses in rural locations that previously had no viable option for hosted telephony can now migrate off PSTN using Starlink as their broadband connection. We've deployed this combination for rural UK businesses ahead of the January 2027 switch-off deadline.
I work from home — do I need a business router? +
It depends what you're doing. If your work involves sensitive client data, a VPN connection back to an office network, or a large number of connected devices, a business router is the right call. For basic email and web browsing on a couple of devices, a good quality home router will do the job. The line is really drawn at security and stability requirements — if either matters to your work, a business router is the safer choice and the cost difference is modest.
Will a business router give me faster internet? +
It won't change the speed your ISP delivers to your property — that's determined by your broadband product. What it does is ensure you actually receive that speed consistently. Home routers can become the bottleneck when multiple devices are active simultaneously, causing slowdowns that have nothing to do with your broadband line. A business router's more powerful processor and better traffic management means you reliably get what you're paying for, even under heavy load.
Are business routers harder to set up? +
They can be — business routers offer significantly more configuration options for security policies, VLANs, QoS rules, VPN settings and network management, and that depth requires technical knowledge to do properly. That's precisely why we supply and configure managed routers as part of our broadband solutions. You receive a router that's correctly set up for your connection and your requirements from day one — you don't need to touch the configuration yourself.
Can I use a business router at home? +
There's no reason you can't. A business router on a home network gives you better security, more stable performance across multiple devices, and proper traffic management. It's more than most households need, but for anyone running a business from home, handling sensitive information, or simply wanting a more reliable network than a consumer product provides, it's a worthwhile upgrade.
Load balancing uses two active broadband connections simultaneously — traffic spreads across both, and if one fails the other carries everything without interruption. It's different from simple failover, where the second connection sits idle until needed. Load balancing gives you both resilience and extra bandwidth. It requires a business-grade dual WAN router, which we supply and configure. If your business runs VoIP, card payments, or cloud systems and can't afford gaps in connectivity, load balancing is worth the modest additional cost of the second connection.