What to check before you sign a business internet contract
The headline speed is the least interesting number on the page. Six things that determine whether the connection actually works for a business.
The TelcoCentric team2 min read
Business internet is sold on one number and delivered on about six. If your phones, your files and your card terminal all depend on the connection, the headline speed is the least useful thing on the quote.
1. Contended or uncontended
Most connections share capacity with other customers. That is fine, and it is why they are affordable — but it means the speed you were sold is a best case. An uncontended service costs considerably more and guarantees the capacity is yours. Ask which you are being offered, and if it is contended, ask what the contention ratio is.
2. Upload speed, not just download
Every plan leads with download. Almost everything that hurts a business is upload: video calls, cloud backups, sending large files, hosted phone calls. A connection with fast download and thin upload will feel broken during a busy meeting even though the speed test looks fine.
3. What the SLA actually promises
Read the service level agreement for two numbers: the time to respond and the time to restore. "Four-hour response" means somebody will call you back, not that you will be online. And check whether the SLA is backed by a rebate — an SLA with no consequence attached is a statement of intent.
4. Failover, and how it fails over
A second connection is only useful if the switch happens without somebody driving to the office. Ask whether failover is automatic, how long it takes, and what happens to in-progress phone calls when it triggers. Mobile broadband failover is inexpensive and covers the most common outage.
5. Static IP and what needs one
If anything is hosted on site — a VPN endpoint, a camera system, a mail server — you need a static IP address, and it is far easier to order at the start than to add later.
6. What happens at the end of the term
- Does it roll to month-to-month, or auto-renew for another full term?
- What is the early termination charge, and is it pro-rated?
- Is the router yours at the end, or a rental you keep paying for?
- Are the installation costs waived only if you stay the full term?
The question we would ask
If this connection dropped at ten on a Tuesday morning, what exactly would happen, and who would I call?
If the answer to that is convincing, the rest of the contract is detail. If it is not, no amount of headline speed makes up for it.