Wireless home working – how to choose a broadband package

Today’s guest post is from MoneySupermarket.com on the vital subject of choosing a broadband provider to suit your needs:

If you are self employed or work from home in any capacity, having a fast broadband connection will be vital to ensuring that you can operate efficiently in the modern world. You can use the broadband speed test at MoneySupermarket.com to work out whether the connection you are getting is matching up with what your provider has promised.

Without good, reliable internet access it is almost impossible for contemporary home workers to remain in touch and continue to conduct business effectively. However, there are some obstacles to effectively integrating broadband into your property, many of which may be due to a lack of technical knowledge.

The benefits of working in a wireless home with fast internet access available in every room should be obvious, but getting a good understanding of the ins and outs of the broadband market is necessary if you want to choose the best service for your business.

Broadband Bundles

Because there are a large number of providers competing for your custom, you will need to weigh up the various broadband bundles that are available to sort the wheat from the chaff. Some bundles are specifically tailored towards business users. However, a home worker might be adequately serviced by a standard domestic package so it is very much down to individual requirements.

Aside from cost, you should consider a number of elements available with each bundle in order to determine the correct one to pick:

The data-usage allowance is perhaps one of the more important facets to take into account when choosing a broadband bundle for home working. Some providers will have a cap on the amount of data you can download in a given monthly period, which means that you could reach the limit prematurely and end up either paying for extra usage or dealing with a throttled connection until the next month.

Usage cannot be carried over, so you need to thoroughly analyse how much data you will actually need to download in order to work out whether you can afford to use a broadband bundle with a limit, or pay more for a so-called ‘unlimited’ service.

Getting to grips with usage levels is relatively easy. If you are going to be using your broadband mostly for emailing and some light web browsing, then a cap may be acceptable. However, if your broadband is going to be harnessed by multiple users for data-intensive tasks that include video streaming, VoIP voice calls and the downloading of large files, then an unlimited broadband service might be a better solution.

Even unlimited services will be typically governed by a fair-use policy, so keep this in mind before you commit to any broadband bundle.

Click here for more factors to consider when choosing your home business broadband package.