Business Internet in the UK: Which Connection Does Your Office Need?
Full fibre, leased line or 4G/5G - the right choice depends on how many people rely on the connection, how much you upload, and what an hour offline costs you. Here is how to choose, with UK prices.
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Key Facts
Quick answer
Business internet in the UK comes in three grades. Business full fibre (FTTP) is shared broadband with a static IP, from about £29 a month, and suits most offices under about 20 staff. A leased line or dedicated internet access gives you an uncontended, symmetric connection with a fault-fix SLA, with 100Mbps from about £69 and 1Gbps from about £129 a month on 36-month terms. 4G and 5G business internet is a fast-to-install backup or a stop-gap where fibre has not arrived.
Business Internet Options Compared
| Feature | Business full fibre (FTTP)Shared, business-grade broadband | Leased line / DIADedicated fibre to your building | 4G / 5G business internetMobile router, no fixed line |
|---|---|---|---|
| Typical starting price | From about £29/mo | 100Mbps from about £69/mo; 1Gbps from about £129/mo (36 months) | Depends on data allowance and network |
| Bandwidth | Shared with other users on the network; speeds vary at peak times | Uncontended - the speed you buy is yours all day | Varies with signal, building and cell load |
| Upload speed | Usually lower than download on most packages | Symmetric - upload matches download | Usually well below download |
| Fault fix | Business care levels, but no guaranteed fix time on most packages | SLA with a fix target in hours and service credits | Best effort |
| Install time | Usually weeks where full fibre is already available | 30-90 working days; shorter where a carrier is on-net | Days - plug in the router |
| Static IP | Included on AMVIA business full fibre | Included, with larger blocks available | Often extra or not available |
| Best for | Small offices, retail, most teams under about 20 people | Larger teams, cloud-heavy work, VoIP at scale, multi-site networks | Backup, temporary sites, sites waiting for fibre |
Which Business Internet Fits Your Office
Business full fibre is enough if...
You have a small team, most of your traffic is download (email, web, SaaS), and you can live with a few hours offline once in a while. FTTP gives you gigabit-class speeds at a broadband price, and a 4G or 5G backup covers the rare outage.
Move to a leased line if...
Twenty or more people depend on the connection, you upload large files or run calls, video and cloud backups at the same time, or an outage costs real money. You get the same speed at 9am and 4pm, upload that matches download, and a contracted fix time.
Use 4G or 5G if...
You need a connection in days, not weeks, you are on a temporary or remote site, or you want an automatic failover that does not share a duct with your main line. It is rarely the right primary connection for a busy office.
What business internet really costs
The monthly price is only part of it. Full fibre is cheapest where the network already reaches your building; where it does not, you wait or pay for FTTP on Demand. A leased line costs more each month but its price is set by distance to the nearest fibre and the term you sign, so getting quotes from every carrier near your postcode matters more than the headline rate. Then compare the cost of downtime: if an hour offline costs your team more than the monthly difference, a leased line with an SLA is the cheaper option over a 36-month contract.
The AMVIA Recommendation
The AMVIA Recommendation
Start with what your team does online, not with a speed number. If you are a small office on full fibre, a business FTTP line plus a mobile backup is usually the right answer, and we will tell you so. If your connection carries calls, cloud apps and backups for twenty or more people, get leased line quotes - we check every carrier with fibre near your postcode and show each price with construction charges and lead time side by side.
Compare business internet at my postcodeWhat counts as business internet?
Business internet is any connection sold on business terms: a business contract, a static IP, UK business support and, at the top end, a service level agreement. Under that label sit three very different products. Business full fibre (FTTP) is broadband - fibre to the building, but bandwidth shared with other users on the network. A leased line, also sold as dedicated internet access (DIA), is a fibre circuit reserved for your business alone. 4G and 5G business internet runs over a mobile network through a router on site.
How to choose in three questions
How many people rely on it at once? A handful of people on email and web apps will rarely notice contention on a good FTTP line. Twenty people on video calls, VoIP and cloud file sync at the same time will, usually at the busiest hours of the day.
How much do you upload? Most broadband packages give you far less upload than download. Design studios, practices sending large files, and any office running cloud backups or hosting services feel that first. A leased line is symmetric, so a 1Gbps line uploads at 1Gbps.
What does an hour offline cost? Broadband faults are fixed on a best-effort basis. A leased line comes with a fix target in hours and service credits if the carrier misses it. If downtime costs you more than the price difference, the SLA pays for itself.
Why the same office can get very different prices
Business internet is priced by location. Full fibre is only cheap where a network already passes your building. Leased line prices depend on which carriers are on-net nearby: an office on an alt-net's or Virgin Media Business's network can get 100Mbps from about £69 a month, while a building that needs new duct can face construction charges on top. That is why a quote that checks every carrier at your postcode usually beats picking a provider from a league table.
Do you need a backup connection?
If the internet going down stops your business, yes. The cheapest resilient setup for a small office is full fibre plus a 4G or 5G failover router. For larger sites, a second line from a different carrier and a different route into the building, managed by SD-WAN or a failover router, removes the single point of failure.
Compare business internet at your postcode
Enter your business postcode and pick a speed - we check full fibre and every leased line carrier nearby, and show you the options side by side.
Frequently Asked Questions
There is no single best provider - it depends on what reaches your building. For most small offices, business full fibre with a static IP is the best value. For teams of twenty or more, or any business that cannot afford downtime, a leased line from whichever carrier is on-net at your address is usually best, because you get dedicated bandwidth and a fix-time SLA.
Business full fibre starts from about £29 a month. A leased line starts from about £69 a month for 100Mbps and £129 a month for 1Gbps on a 36-month term where a carrier is already on-net. Off-net sites can carry construction charges, so the exact price depends on your postcode.
Business broadband shares bandwidth with other users and usually has slower upload than download, with best-effort repairs. A leased line is a dedicated fibre circuit with the same upload and download speed, no contention, and an SLA with a guaranteed fix time. Broadband is cheaper; a leased line is more predictable.
Not always in raw speed - the same full fibre network can serve both. What you pay for with business internet is a static IP, business support, priority repairs and, on a leased line, uncontended bandwidth with an SLA. That is what keeps speeds steady when the whole office is online.
Yes, where 5G coverage is good at your building. It installs in days and is a strong backup or a stop-gap while fibre is installed. Indoor signal and network load vary, so it is rarely a good primary connection for a busy office.
A 4G or 5G router can be running in days. Business full fibre usually takes weeks where the network already reaches you. A leased line typically takes 30 to 90 working days, at the shorter end where a carrier is already on-net to your building.
Find the Right Business Internet for Your Office
Tell us your postcode and what your team needs. We check full fibre and every leased line carrier nearby, and come back with prices and lead times, typically within 24 hours. No obligation.
Related Resources
Business Broadband
Full-fibre business broadband from £29 a month with a static IP included.
Business Leased Lines
Dedicated, symmetric fibre with an SLA, from £69 a month.
Dedicated Internet Access
What DIA is and how it differs from broadband.
Leased Line vs FTTP
When full fibre is enough and when a leased line pays off.
FTTP for Business
How full fibre works for businesses and when it is available.
Leased Line Prices by Speed
100Mbps from £69, 1Gbps from £129, 10Gbps from £349 a month on 36-month terms.
5G and 4G Business Broadband
When mobile broadband works as a primary line or a backup.