Why does 'business' broadband cost more?

We will shortly (4th May) be ADSL enabled so will be replacing our
existing ISDN with broadband. I used to be a contractor and now my
wife uses my Ltd. company for her freelance work, the company pays for
our internet connection.

Why do 'business' broadband connections cost so much more? It's not
as if our business uses the connection very heavily, it's my (and my
son's) personal use that uses it most.

Is it just (as for a BT telephone) that you get better back up etc.
with a business connection?

--
Chris Green

On 19 Apr 2005 15:08:48 GMT, (E-Mail Removed) wrote:

>Why do 'business' broadband connections cost so much more? It's not
>as if our business uses the connection very heavily, it's my (and my
>son's) personal use that uses it most.

usually it is provided on a BT Office IPstream circuit with "20:1"
contention rather than the "50:1" Home equivalent.

ISPs usually bundle more services into business accounts and the
exchange connection to the BT network is/was separate to the Home
users so affected by different factors.

Just buy a home connection and be done with it.

Phil
Tiscali - dialup speeds at Broadband prices :-)

--

(E-Mail Removed) wrote in news:(E-Mail Removed):

> Why do 'business' broadband connections cost so much more? It's not
> as if our business uses the connection very heavily, it's my (and my
> son's) personal use that uses it most.

Lower contention maybe? The wholesale cost of the business connections
from BT costs more.

--
Phil
http://www.weezer.plus.com/

On 19 Apr 2005 15:08:48 GMT, (E-Mail Removed) wrote:

>We will shortly (4th May) be ADSL enabled so will be replacing our
>existing ISDN with broadband. I used to be a contractor and now my
>wife uses my Ltd. company for her freelance work, the company pays for
>our internet connection.
>
>Why do 'business' broadband connections cost so much more? It's not
>as if our business uses the connection very heavily, it's my (and my
>son's) personal use that uses it most.
>
>Is it just (as for a BT telephone) that you get better back up etc.
>with a business connection?

Probably, with most ISPs. Sometimes you do get slightly different
options, but I have never seen anything to justify the additional
cost.

Some of them *require* you to have a business account if it will be
used for business at all. Others have slightly more flexible approach.

One ISP currently says:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
47.1 You are required to sign-up to an appropriate account type
depending on your required utilisation. Home accounts are provided for
residential consumers, if you wish to use your account commercially
then you must sign-up to a business account or Teleworker account
where appropriate. For guidance, we consider commercial use to be at a
level above that which is running a part time business or supporting
any kind of hobby. Business accounts must be used if the account is to
be used from any official business premises while Teleworkers are
considered to be commercial use of a residential connection.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I would say that most freelancers would not be using it heavily
enough to come under what they class as "commercial use".
--
Alex Heney, Global Villager
Hm..what's this red button fo:=/07<NO CARRIER

To reply by email, my address is alexATheneyDOTplusDOTcom

On Tue, 19 Apr 2005 15:27:12 UTC, Phil Thompson
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

> On 19 Apr 2005 15:08:48 GMT, (E-Mail Removed) wrote:
>
> >Why do 'business' broadband connections cost so much more? It's not
> >as if our business uses the connection very heavily, it's my (and my
> >son's) personal use that uses it most.
>
> usually it is provided on a BT Office IPstream circuit with "20:1"
> contention rather than the "50:1" Home equivalent.
>
> ISPs usually bundle more services into business accounts and the
> exchange connection to the BT network is/was separate to the Home
> users so affected by different factors.
>
> Just buy a home connection and be done with it.

But choose an ISP that doesn't mind.

--
[ 7'ism - a condition by which the sufferer experiences an inability
to give concise answers, express reasoned argument or opinion.
Usually accompanied by silly noises and gestures - incurable, early
euthanasia recommended. ]

In article <(E-Mail Removed)>, (E-Mail Removed) wrote:

> Why do 'business' broadband connections cost so much more? It's not
> as if our business uses the connection very heavily, it's my (and my
> son's) personal use that uses it most.

Generally because of lower contention and possibly because additional
services might be bundled that a business could find useful.

If you're technically a business but you think your usage would be more
that of a home user, go for a supplier who doesn't mind.

I know Zen fall into this category, and as a rule most of the "free
setup minimum 12 month term" ISPs do not.

cheers,
Paul
--
paul <at> spamcop <dot> net

On Tue, 19 Apr 2005 16:08:48 +0100, usenet wrote:

> We will shortly (4th May) be ADSL enabled so will be replacing our
> existing ISDN with broadband. I used to be a contractor and now my wife
> uses my Ltd. company for her freelance work, the company pays for our
> internet connection.
>
> Why do 'business' broadband connections cost so much more? It's not as
> if our business uses the connection very heavily, it's my (and my son's)
> personal use that uses it most.
>
> Is it just (as for a BT telephone) that you get better back up etc. with
> a business connection?

Like Business bank accounts, the market is less competitive so will stand
a fatter subscription

Eric Lee

"Eric Lee" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:4265547e$0$573$(E-Mail Removed)...
> On Tue, 19 Apr 2005 16:08:48 +0100, usenet wrote:
>
>> We will shortly (4th May) be ADSL enabled so will be replacing our
>> existing ISDN with broadband. I used to be a contractor and now my wife
>> uses my Ltd. company for her freelance work, the company pays for our
>> internet connection.
>>
>> Why do 'business' broadband connections cost so much more? It's not as
>> if our business uses the connection very heavily, it's my (and my son's)
>> personal use that uses it most.
>>
>> Is it just (as for a BT telephone) that you get better back up etc. with
>> a business connection?
>
> Like Business bank accounts, the market is less competitive so will stand
> a fatter subscription

And, most companies pay VAT, so they can charge the same price excluding vat
that they charge home users including it.

Gaz

> Eric Lee

"Phil Thompson" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> On 19 Apr 2005 15:08:48 GMT, (E-Mail Removed) wrote:
>
> >Why do 'business' broadband connections cost so much more? It's not
> >as if our business uses the connection very heavily, it's my (and my
> >son's) personal use that uses it most.
>
> usually it is provided on a BT Office IPstream circuit with "20:1"
> contention rather than the "50:1" Home equivalent.
>
> ISPs usually bundle more services into business accounts and the
> exchange connection to the BT network is/was separate to the Home
> users so affected by different factors.
>
> Just buy a home connection and be done with it.
>
> Phil
> Tiscali - dialup speeds at Broadband prices :-)
>
> --

One of the reason is contention ratio, the other big one for business is
you'll get an SLA,
so customer service is a lot better (not always though) and things get fixed
a lot quicker with a good SLA in place.
You also have your own account manager who you can phone 24x7 to sort out
anything.
And compensation if things go wrong.
Generally everything is 10X more responsive to your needs.
It's worth the extra money for piece of mind. Or your entire business goes
up the spout because there is
no access to the network because you've cut corners.

But yes, it is rather expensive.

A.

londoncityslicker wrote:
> "Phil Thompson" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>> On 19 Apr 2005 15:08:48 GMT, (E-Mail Removed) wrote:
>>
>>> Why do 'business' broadband connections cost so much more? It's not
>>> as if our business uses the connection very heavily, it's my (and my
>>> son's) personal use that uses it most.
>>
>> usually it is provided on a BT Office IPstream circuit with "20:1"
>> contention rather than the "50:1" Home equivalent.
>>
>> ISPs usually bundle more services into business accounts and the
>> exchange connection to the BT network is/was separate to the Home
>> users so affected by different factors.
>>
>> Just buy a home connection and be done with it.
>>
>> Phil
>> Tiscali - dialup speeds at Broadband prices :-)
>>
>> --
>
> One of the reason is contention ratio, the other big one for business
> is you'll get an SLA,
> so customer service is a lot better (not always though) and things
> get fixed a lot quicker with a good SLA in place.
> You also have your own account manager who you can phone 24x7 to sort
> out anything.
> And compensation if things go wrong.
> Generally everything is 10X more responsive to your needs.
> It's worth the extra money for piece of mind. Or your entire business
> goes up the spout because there is
> no access to the network because you've cut corners.
>
> But yes, it is rather expensive.

Nope there IS no SLA as the supplier doesn't offer one.....