BT Business broadband review 2024: Is it any good?

Dan Howdle • September 30th, 2024

BT Business Broadband is known for its broad coverage, fair pricing, and a few unique extras that set it apart. With options in Standard Fibre to Full Fibre and flexible add-ons like static IPs and calls packages, it’s easy to see why many small and medium-sized businesses consider it. But does it live up to the hype? Let’s dive in and find out what makes BT Business Broadband tick.

Speed and packages

BT offers a range of business broadband packages on 24-month contracts, with various options tailored to different business needs. The packages are divided into three main types: 'Essential', 'Enhanced', and 'Pro', each offering different features, support levels, and equipment, and there's one of these types per speed offered, making 18 package options total.

The entry-level Standard Fibre packages are 'BT Business Fibre 38' and 'BT Business Fibre 76', with download speeds of 38Mbps and 76Mbps respectively. These packages are not Full Fibre, so you should only be offered them if Full Fibre is unavailable where you live/work.

If you need to go faster, and provided you can get it, there are BT Business Broadband's Full Fibre options. The Full FIbre 150 package provides an average download speed of 145Mbps and 27Mbps upload speed. For even greater performance, the 'Full Fibre 300' package offers 300Mbps download and 45Mbps upload speeds, while the 'Full FIbre 900' package delivers up to 910 Mbps download and 104 Mbps upload speeds, ideal for bandwidth-intensive activities.

It's a bit confusing the way BT Business Broadband is marketing these, because you won't actually find a package called Full Fibre 150 (for example), instead, you'll find packages called 'Essential 150', Essentital 300' and so on. We don't like the naming scheme at all as it's very unwieldy to work with and talk about, and that always transaltes as being more than a little opaque to customers. Here's the simplest way to look at it:

Package tiers – Essential, Advanced and Pro explained

Essential Packages: These are the base packages in the BT Business Broadband range, offering reliable, basic connectivity with a BT Smart Hub router. Essential packages are suitable for small business needs and come without advanced features or extra support options. They do not include phone lines.

Enhanced Packages: Enhanced packages include several upgrades over the Essential plans, such as Hybrid Connect for automatic 4G backup in case of line failures, Expert Setup to ensure optimal installation, and a Static IP address, which can be useful for businesses requiring a fixed IP for remote access or hosting services. Enhanced plans also come with improved IT support services to assist with any technical issues.

Pro Packages: Pro packages are the top-tier option, offering all the features of the Enhanced plans plus additional benefits like Complete Wi-Fi Plus for improved wireless coverage, Hybrid Backup for added reliability, and Prompt Care for priority fault fixing. Pro packages also include advanced security controls and are designed for businesses with higher performance and support needs, ensuring consistent uptime and optimal network security.

Add-ons and extras – what else do you get?

Each BT Business package includes optional access to BT's Guest Wi-Fi, providing a secure network for guest users separate from your main business network. This feature helps protect your primary network while offering free Wi-Fi to customers or visitors, automatically blocking malicious or illegal content.

Microsoft 365 is available as an add-on across all packages, offering various business productivity tools including email hosting, cloud storage, and access to Microsoft Office applications like Word and Excel. Different tiers are available to suit your business's needs, with hosting space options up to 1TB per user and additional communication tools as required.

BT Business Broadband also provides access to over 5 million BT Wi-Fi hotspots across the UK through the BT Wi-Fi app, offering free Wi-Fi in various public locations like supermarkets, airports, and city centres. This is especially useful for business owners on the go who need reliable internet access outside of the office.

The 'Enhanced' and 'Pro' packages include several exclusive features such as Hybrid Connect, which automatically switches your broadband to EE’s 4G network if your primary connection is slow, and BT’s Always Connected Guarantee to keep your business online. These premium packages also come with a static IP address, Enhanced IT Support for 24/7 technical help, and other advanced tools to support business operations.

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BT Business calling packages and digital phone lines

The UK's telecoms industry is changing from copper to full fibre for the entire country by 2025; this means that the old way to make calls over a traditional phone line must change and soon all calls will be made over the internet. BT is ahead of the game and is already offering digital phone lines instead of traditional landlines.

A digital phone line is simply a 'line' to make and receive calls like you’ve always done, but the technology to do so is via your broadband/fibre connection.

BT is offering business broadband packages with their Digital Phone Line service, so long as you choose either the Enhanced or Pro tier.

Is BT Business broadband fast enough for your needs?

BT's standard speed broadband – with up to 76Mbps downloads and up to 19Mbps uploads – may be enough for sole traders, or for small businesses with only one or two employees. However, BT's premium fibre offerings – Full Fibre 150 or Full Fibre 900 – are much more likely to satisfy the needs of today's businesses.

Downloads of up to 900Mbps+ and uploads of up to 100-ish Mbps are now standard speeds for premium packages in the industry. They're not the fastest you can buy (Virgin Media, altnets, dedicated business providers, and home broadband providers like EE Broadband and Vodafone Broadband all offer quicker), but BT Business does offer a fast service at a reasonable price point. Just be aware that the advertised speeds are a guide, and not everyone will be able to achieve speeds at all times, but also that BT is very clear what speed it expects you to get once it has your postcode.

BT Business broadband upload speeds

The Standard Fibre 76Mbps BT Business Broadband packages can only provide upload speeds of up to 29Mbps. While other providers selling standard speed broadband can manage a bit more, upload speeds are comparable with the rest of the market. For fibre services – that's Full Fibre 150 or Full Fibre 900 – you can get upload speeds of up to 104Mbps which are much more competitive, and may be essential, depending on your business.

Installation

Engineers work on green street cabinets to install or switch over your broadband to BT, so you shouldn't suffer any disruption in the office. BT says its minimum lead time to switch over your broadband from another supplier, or to install a new broadband and phone line, will be at least 10 days.

If you already have BT Home Broadband and you're switching to BT Business Broadband, the news is a little better: you could be up and running in five days, but you can still use your old broadband connection until the switchover takes place. You can track the progress of your order on the BT website.

Router

BT Business Broadband customers will receive one of two routers depending on the package tier they choose:

• Smart Hub: Included with the 'Essential' and 'Enhanced' packages, this reliable router offers good Wi-Fi coverage, with dual-band capabilities (2.4GHz and 5GHz) for smaller businesses. It's simple to set up and comes with built-in security features like a firewall
• Smart Hub 3: Bundled with 'Pro' packages, this router takes things up a notch, providing enhanced performance and better support for multiple devices. It's ideal for businesses with heavier internet needs and is compatible with BT’s Complete Wi-Fi system, which uses extra discs to expand coverage where needed

Both routers are easy to set up, requiring minimal configuration. For those on the 'Enhanced' or 'Pro' packages, BT offers Expert Setup to ensure everything runs smoothly from day one, with professionals on hand to optimise performance.

If you’re working in a larger space or struggling with Wi-Fi dead zones, BT’s Complete Wi-Fi system can be added to either router, further boosting your coverage using additional Wi-Fi discs.

Reliability

BT stakes a lot of its reputation on providing a reliable service for businesses. Quite apart from the sales spiel, you can get a good feel for how reliable a service is on a day-to-day basis by checking BT's page on the independent DownDetector service. There you'll be able to see reports from customers when BT broadband is down, and find out how the business is handling it.

One of the key selling points for BT Business Broadband is the fact that they promise no traffic management nor any fair-use policy for downloading data. This means your connection really is unlimited and sets BT Business apart from the competition.

BT's Service Status page allows you to see if any issues with your phone line or broadband are just affecting you or a whole area. You can also livechat with BT Business and while the connection is rarely instant, you can usually get through to a customer service agent in a matter of minutes.

Customer service

The key to any successful relationship – business or otherwise – is good communication. When things go wrong with business broadband you want to know that your provider is on your side and you have an account manager willing to bend over backwards to fix your issues.

According to Ofcom's most recent report on service quality, BT Business only offers customers an end-of-next-business-day target time for repairs and fault fixing. This compares unfavourably with other operators so it is worth keeping in mind when choosing your business broadband product.

Conclusion

While BT's home broadband customer service reputation might put off some small business owners, the simple fact is that they have among the widest coverage across the UK for business broadband.

It's certainly not the cheapest brand on the market, and upload speeds on the basic packages may be an issue if you work with data-intensive applications on a regular basis. The addition of premium services which include Hybrid Connect, static IP addresses, BT Enhanced IT Support and access to a free Square Contactless Card Reader on the higher tiers should sweeten the deal, though.

There are also features you can't get anywhere else, like Hybrid Connect with its Always Connected Guarantee and Guest WiFi. So BT Business Broadband is definitely worth a look if you're searching for a new business broadband provider.

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