BT Business Broadband Essential

What is BT Business Broadband Essential?

Essential is the first of BT's three core business broadband plans, below BT Business Broadband Enhanced and BT Business Broadband Pro. BT describes it as "the basics, brilliantly done" and aims it at cost-conscious businesses: a small café, a consultancy, a shop or an office with a handful of people.

It is a business plan, not home broadband with a different name. It is also not the same thing as BT's consumer "Home Essentials" tariff, which is a social tariff for households on certain benefits. If you are searching for "BT Essentials broadband" for a business address, this is the plan you mean.

Essential runs on every access type BT sells, so it is available at most business addresses:

• Full Fibre (FTTP): fibre all the way to the premises, with Full Fibre tiers from 100 up to 900Mbps, and Full Fibre Gigabit and 1.6 Gigabit plans listed at some addresses. See BT Business Full Fibre and gigabit business broadband.
• Standard Fibre (SOGEA): fibre to the street cabinet, then copper, sold as Standard Fibre 38 and 76. See SOGEA.
• Copper broadband: up to 17Mbps where fibre is not yet available. BT notes that some copper lines still need a BT Business phone line.

Which one you get depends on your address, not on the plan. We run the check for you: see check availability.

What Essential includes

Every Essential plan comes with the following, according to BT's plan material:

• Content Controls and Web Protect: BT's network-level security. Web Protect (BT also calls it Web Threat Protect) warns you before a device visits a website suspected of being malicious, and Content Controls let you limit the categories of website people can reach on your connection. Both are included but switched off by default, so the account holder turns them on in My Account or through the hub. More on Web Protect and Content Controls.
• Guest Wi-Fi: a password-free Wi-Fi network for customers and visitors, kept separate from your business network, with BT keeping most of the available speed for the business. More on guest Wi-Fi.
• BT's Minimum Speed Guarantee: before the service starts, BT tells you the minimum speed it can guarantee at your address. If your speed regularly falls below it and BT cannot fix it, you can leave without charges under BT's terms. See the minimum speed guarantee.
• Unlimited data: no usage caps for file sharing, video meetings and cloud apps.
• BT support: BT says its broadband support team is available 24/7 for Essential customers.
• Standard Care: BT's standard fault-fix level, with a target of fixing a fault by the end of the second working day after it is reported.

Which hub comes with Essential?

The hub depends on the access type at your address:

Smart Hub 3 is BT's Wi-Fi 6 business hub, which BT says can connect over 100 devices. On Standard Fibre, Essential and Enhanced come with Smart Hub 2; you only get Smart Hub 3 on Standard Fibre by choosing Pro. If you want to use your own router or firewall, BT allows compatible equipment, but its helpdesk does not support third-party routers; see using your own router.

Add-ons for Essential

Essential is deliberately lean, and BT lets you add the pieces you need rather than move up a whole plan. The add-ons BT lists for Essential are:

Wi-Fi Security Controls is the exception. BT makes it exclusive to Pro, so it cannot be added to Essential.

Adding two or three of these can bring Essential close to Enhanced or Pro. When that happens, we compare the two side by side in the quote so you can see which is the simpler buy.

Who Essential suits, and who should look higher

Essential is a good fit if:

• A short outage would be inconvenient rather than costly, because you can work from a phone hotspot or take payments on a mobile card reader for a few hours
• You have a small premises where one hub covers the space
• You do not need a fixed IP address for remote access or a VPN
• You want BT's security controls and guest Wi-Fi without paying for features you will not use

Look at Enhanced if going offline would stop you trading: Enhanced adds Hybrid Backup and a static IP. Look at Pro if Wi-Fi coverage, device control or faster fault fixing matter, and at BT Ultra Broadband if you want a managed security appliance. The packages comparison puts all four side by side, and our small business guide walks through the choice by size and risk.

Getting connected on Essential

Essential kit is designed to be set up without an engineer in most cases, although an Expert Setup visit can be added. The usual sequence:

1. We check the address. We confirm whether it has Full Fibre, Standard Fibre or copper, the speed tiers on offer and the minimum speed BT expects to guarantee.
2. You choose the speed and any add-ons. Hybrid Backup, a static IP, Prompt Care and Complete Wi-Fi are decided at this point, so the right kit arrives together.
3. BT confirms the date. BT says activation usually takes around 14 working days, and it shows the available dates when the order is placed. A new Full Fibre connection can take longer; see installation.
4. The hub arrives and you plug it in. For a self-install, BT says the service is activated by 23:59 on the agreed date.
5. Switch on the controls. Content Controls and Web Protect are off until the account holder turns them on in My Account, and guest Wi-Fi is switched on in My Account or the BT Business app.

If you are moving from another provider, BT handles the switch with your current provider; our switching guide explains the steps and what to have ready.

Contracts and prices

We do not publish prices. BT's price for Essential depends on the access type and speed at your address, the contract length and any add-ons. BT's pricing terms include annual price changes, and the details are confirmed at quote. Our prices guide explains what moves the figure and our contracts guide covers minimum terms and what happens at the end.

We check what your address can get, recommend the plan and add-ons that fit, place the order and help with the installation date and set-up questions. Contact us for an Essential quote.