Broadband for Small Business

What a small business needs from broadband

Small businesses tend to run on fewer systems than large ones, but each of those systems matters more. If the card machine, the booking system, the cloud accounts package or the phones stop, there is often no IT department to work around the problem. So when you choose broadband, four questions do most of the work:

1. What happens if the line goes down for a day? If you can carry on from a phone hotspot, the risk is small. If you stop trading, you need backup.
2. How far does the Wi-Fi need to reach? A single room is easy. Two floors, thick walls or a back office and a shop floor are not.
3. Who connects to the network? Staff only, or customers, visitors and personal devices too.
4. Do you need anything fixed? A static IP address for remote access, a VPN or cameras, or a phone number that has to keep working.

Business broadband plans are built around those questions. BT Business Broadband has three core plans, Essential, Enhanced and Pro, plus BT Ultra Broadband for businesses that want a managed security appliance. Every plan includes BT's Minimum Speed Guarantee, unlimited data, guest Wi-Fi and Content Controls and Web Protect. What changes between them is backup, Wi-Fi coverage, security and how quickly BT aims to fix a fault.

BT plans matched to small business needs

This table maps common small business situations to the plan that usually fits. It is a starting point: the access type at your address and the add-ons you choose can change the answer.

The packages comparison lists exactly what each plan includes, and BT Ultra vs Pro sets the two top plans side by side.

Essential: simple needs done properly

BT Business Broadband Essential is BT's entry business plan. BT describes it as "the basics, brilliantly done" and aims it at cost-conscious businesses such as a small café or a consultancy. It includes:

• Content Controls and Web Protect: BT's network-level security, included but switched off until the account holder turns it on in My Account. See Web Protect.
• Guest Wi-Fi: a password-free network for customers that stays separate from your business network. BT allows up to 13 guests at a time and keeps 80% of the available speed for the business. See guest Wi-Fi.
• BT's Minimum Speed Guarantee: BT tells you the minimum speed it can guarantee before the service starts, with a right to exit if it falls short and BT cannot fix it. See the minimum speed guarantee.
• Standard Care: BT's target is to fix a fault by the end of the second working day after it is reported.

Essential suits a small office, studio or shop where one hub covers the space and a short outage would be annoying rather than expensive. Hybrid Backup, a static IP, Prompt Care and Complete Wi-Fi can all be added if you need one of them but not a whole plan upgrade.

Enhanced: when going offline costs you money

BT Business Broadband Enhanced keeps everything in Essential and adds:

• Hybrid Backup: a Hybrid Connect device that switches your broadband to 4G automatically if the fixed line fails. BT says your static IP and IP voice services keep working on the backup. See Hybrid Backup.
• One static IP address: useful for remote access to a server, a VPN back to the office or viewing cameras. See static IP addresses.
• Enhanced IT Support: BT's remote IT help for questions wider than the broadband itself.
• Expert Setup: an engineer visit to set up the hub and devices is available, and included on some plans; we confirm this at quote.

For many small businesses this is the sensible middle ground. If you take card payments over the broadband, run a cloud phone system or work entirely in cloud apps, a line failure stops the business, and automatic 4G backup is a straightforward way to protect against it. A 4G backup connection depends on mobile signal at the premises, so we check that with you before you rely on it.

Pro: Wi-Fi coverage, device control and faster fixes

BT Business Broadband Pro includes everything in Enhanced and adds the features that matter once a small business has more people, more devices or more space:

• Smart Hub 3: BT's Wi-Fi 6 business hub, which BT says can connect over 100 devices. Pro brings it to Standard Fibre (SOGEA) addresses as well as Full Fibre. See Smart Hub 3.
• Complete Wi-Fi Plus: Wi-Fi discs that work with Smart Hub 3 to make one network across the premises, backed by BT's coverage guarantee for the main building in the first six months. See Complete Wi-Fi Plus.
• Prompt Care: BT's faster fault-fix level, targeting a fix by the end of the next working day, including Saturdays, for faults reported before 9pm Monday to Saturday. See Prompt Care.
• Wi-Fi Security Controls: device-level security in the BT Business app. You can approve devices before they join, group them, schedule or instantly block access and apply website filters. See Wi-Fi Security Controls.

Pro is available on Full Fibre and Standard Fibre, but not on copper broadband. It suits a small business on two floors, a practice with treatment rooms, or a shop with a stockroom and office, where one hub on its own leaves dead spots.

Ultra: managed security for a small business

BT Ultra Broadband replaces the Smart Hub with a Cisco Meraki security appliance. It adds a next-generation firewall, URL content filtering, malware protection and intrusion detection and prevention, automatic cellular backup, up to three Meraki Wi-Fi 6 access points and a cloud dashboard. BT carries out an Expert Setup visit and makes configuration changes on request. Ultra runs on Standard Fibre 76 or Full Fibre up to 900Mbps, and the contract term is confirmed at quote.

It is a strong fit for a small business that holds client data and wants security handled within the broadband, without running its own firewall. BT is clear that it is not for everyone: static IP addresses are not currently available on Ultra, it is broadband only (it cannot be bundled with a Digital Line), and BT says it is not designed for complex or bespoke networks, businesses keeping an existing third-party firewall or businesses that want to manage security themselves. See Ultra Broadband security for what the package covers.

Speed: how much does a small business need?

Plan and speed are separate choices. The speed depends on the access type at your address:

A small team working in cloud apps and on video calls feels upload speed and the number of people online at once more than headline download speed. Our guide to what broadband speed your business needs walks through it by use, and BT Business Full Fibre explains the Full Fibre tiers. If you have outgrown broadband altogether, see when to upgrade to a leased line.

Small business broadband deals and prices

BT runs time-limited offers on its business broadband, and the price for your business depends on the access type and speed at the address, the plan, any add-ons, the contract length and any installation work. BT's pricing terms include annual price changes. We do not publish prices or offers here because they change; we confirm them in your quote. Our prices guide explains what moves the figure, and the contracts guide covers minimum terms.

For a small business, we are one point of contact: we check what your address can get, recommend the plan and add-ons that fit your risk and budget, place the order and help with the installation date, Wi-Fi set-up questions and the digital switchover. If you also need business phones, we can add BT Cloud Voice. Contact us and tell us a little about your business.