Difference Between Residential and Business Internet
The differences between residential and business internet are not as great as they used to be. Streaming video, family friendly conferencing services, remote desktop accessibility, working from home, and mobile power users are driving the demand for more robust options at the residential level. Also, the rapid consolidation of service providers in most major metropolitan areas is driving down the price of what were previously considered “business class” services. However, there are still some core features of business internet service that will likely remain unique.
There are two primary requirements of business class internet that remain at the top of the list of features. They are reliability and support. For most businesses, internet access is just as important as electricity. Loss of internet access in a modern business could result in loss of email, customer support services, purchasing, shipping, billing, and in some cases loss of revenue generation because the business hosts their own product web site.
A business needs to know that the internet service they subscribe to is always going to be on, always going to be available. Speed is a secondary concern and cost becomes a limiting factor in determining speed. There are, of course, exceptions to this but the concept applies to the majority of businesses.
Finally, there are a number of additional features that are of some concern for business users. These are more technical in nature but are not inconsiderable in their importance. IP address availability, email hosting, domain name hosting, web site hosting, file hosting or sharing and corporate conferencing services are just some of the additional features available with some service providers.
For residential users, internet service providers offer a plethora of services that were not available just a few short years ago. Now you can find providers that offer family oriented video conferencing services. Some providers can offer a starting portal site that has a mix of various services such as streaming music, movies, audio books, diverse social media, and even dating. Most of these services have parental controls for safety and some also provide for remote monitoring.
But, the requirement for reliability and support can also be present in the modern family home. Internet access has become a standard service like gas and electric utilities. Many families have begun to rely on the availability of the internet for communication, entertainment, or for the work from home crowd. This means that you want to find a provider that has a good track record for keeping the service up and available. And for those inevitable times when it does fail, they must be quick to respond to service outages.
As stated at the beginning of this article, there really are a number of similarities between the requirements of business and residential users when it comes time to determine the best provider. As always, make a list of your particular requirements, prioritize that list and then shop for the vendor that gives you what you need for the best price.