How to Choose The Right Business Broadband Provider

As more and more people start to build their business empires from their homes, the need for a fast, reliable and secure business broadband increases as well.

In this digital age, when business transactions and transfer of content and deliverables can be done online, a lot of SME business-owners who are working from home are slowly finding the need to transition from their slow home broadband to a full-fledged business broadband to take advantage of the big benefits of the latter, which include a faster and more reliable connection, improved security, and priority service, among many others.

But the big question in the mind of home-based entrepreneurs who are seriously considering to jump into this business broadband bandwagon is 'How does one choose the RIGHT provider?'

As an SME businessman in this internet age who's also thinking about subscribing to such connection, I've taken the liberty of listing down the five factors that - in my opinion - one should consider in choosing a business broadband:

1. Reliability of Provider - Perhaps the most important consideration you can make when choosing a business broadband provider is the reliability of the network. As everyone knows, fast business internet speeds is often negated by a choppy, unreliable and often-down broadband connection.

The most important thing to keep in mind here is that you can't go by a provider's reputation alone because a network that performs well in one area may not perform as well in others. So to make sure you're choosing the best network in your specific location, it would be best to ask business broadband subscribers near your house about the reliability of their providers and make your decision based on their answers.

2. Speeds and Contention Ratio - You need to look at both the download and upload speeds of business broadband packages by various providers and carefully compare them. Also, you should make a comparison of the contention ratio, which is shows the number of subscribers sharing the connection at the same time. Of course, the lower the contention ratio or the less users sharing the line, the better.

3. Networks - Ask providers if their packages allow networking. If so, how many computers can be part of the network? Will they help you set up the networks for free? Do they also allow wireless networking?

4. Promos and Freebies - Largely because of tight competition, business broadband providers are coming up with smart advertising campaigns that can help them get more clients than their competitors. Some of these campaigns or promotions give generous freebies to would-be subscribers like 'faster speeds for the same amount' and even free gadgets like tablets, smartphones, laptops, desktops and netbooks.

5. Price - I really think that, in terms of subscribing to something as important as a business broadband, price should be the last thing a businessman should look at. Because really, you wouldn't want to go with the cheapest provider and end up having a horrible connection that you can't even rely on. In my opinion, you should make price comparison after you've considered all other factors mentioned, like if you're already choosing between two top providers.

So there you go. I hope you find this useful in choosing your business broadband provider. If you have other suggestions, kindly leave them on our comments section.