Home-based business owners and even solopreneurs will often opt for Business Internet over residential service, and here are four reasons they do.

Business-Focused Features

With Business Internet, you get a connection and service designed with businesses in mind, including features developed explicitly for conducting and operating a business.

A residential internet service, with speeds more focused on home-user needs, can fall short for small businesses -- unable to meet the higher requirements of reliability, service, and speeds needed to run a business successfully.

Faster, reliable speeds

Upgrading to more speed or bandwidth is one of the best reasons to get a business internet service.

Access to faster upload and download speeds can help boost your and your employee's productivity, performance, and customer experiences.

With residential internet service, your upload speeds may be restricted, which can cause lagging and other issues for your business.

“When running a small business, there's nothing more frustrating than a slow internet connection,” writes Business.org senior editor Sarah Ryther Francom.

Productivity is crucial and requires speedy internet. 

“Whether you work from home or have a small office, making the switch from residential internet to business internet may be the solution to losing potential customers through slow internet,” she explains in an article for the research and review website.

Enhanced network and reliability 

Some business owners cite the higher level of network reliability as a critical benefit of business internet, compared to residential internet service.

In some cases, the increased network reliability that comes with business internet is a result of getting a dedicated connection, known as Dedicated Internet Access or DIA, which can be a crucial tool for small businesses.

“Essentially, it’s a private connection for only your business, so you don’t have to share your bandwidth with anyone else,” says Francom on Business.org.

Further, having a reliable network can help improve your business efficiency -- for example, more reliable access to the business tools and applications your company is running.

Business-level service agreements

 Residential internet customers don’t typically get a provider-backed commitment to faster speeds and enhanced customer service that comes with a business internet service agreement.

With business internet, most providers will offer a service level agreement (SLA) that provides “guarantees” in several areas, such as low latency, uptimes, and 24/7 support.

“For business users, the peace of mind associated with service level agreements is often worth the premium price tag,” says Francom.

Spending less on internet service could result in a poor connection and cost you profit loss and a damaged business reputation, she writes. 

“That being said, every business owner has their own unique needs, so we recommend shopping around to find the best business internet service provider that meets your budget."

Is it time to switch to a Business Internet Plan? If so, Sparklight it here to help.