What is the fastest business broadband provider?
We found Telcom to be the fastest business broadband provider in the UK. The Manchester-based business telecoms service provider recorded average download speeds of 391Mb and average upload speeds of 357Mb.
To put that into perspective, you could download Football Manager 2024 in less than two and a half minutes (just don’t tell your boss) and you can upload a hefty 1GB Excel or video file in less than half a minute.
Our study analysed 307,000 broadband speed tests, including 113 business broadband providers. We ranked providers from 1st to 113th based on an average rank for download speed and upload speed.
Telcom differs from some business providers, as it specialises in Dedicated Internet Access (DIA) and leased lines. This means, for each customer it builds a dedicated fibre connection which isn’t shared with anyone else.
After Telcom, the next fastest business broadband providers were Triangle Networks Limited and Southern Communications. To view the full results of our study, you can use the drop-down accordion below.
Full results
-
1. Telcom (391Mb download / 357Mb upload)
2. Triangle Networks Limited (400Mb download / 286Mb upload)
3. Southern Communications (389Mb download / 357Mb upload)
4. Fibrecast (403Mb download / 246Mb upload)
5. Baltic Broadband Limited (417Mb download / 189Mb upload)
6. Gigabit Networks (375Mb download / 307Mb upload)
7. toob (349Mb download / 259Mb upload)
8. Lightspeed Broadband (350Mb download / 224Mb upload)
9. Squirrel Internet (331Mb download / 260Mb upload)
10. Giganet (304Mb download / 264Mb upload)
11. YouFibre (298Mb download / 257Mb upload)
12. Digital Infrastructure (277Mb download / 317Mb upload)
13. No One Internet (293Mb download / 249Mb upload)
14. Community Fibre (287Mb download / 244Mb upload)
15. Box Broadband (291Mb download / 233Mb upload)
16. MS3 Networks (280Mb download / 218Mb upload)
17. Broadband for the Rural North (270Mb download / 211Mb upload)
18. Equiinet (257Mb download / 258Mb upload)
19. Zzoomm (266Mb download / 213Mb upload)
20. BRSK (269Mb download / 201Mb upload)
21. Upp (250Mb download / 231Mb upload)
22. Internetty (261Mb download / 199Mb upload)
23. Hey Broadband (260Mb download / 188Mb upload)
24. Cadence Networks (245Mb download / 210Mb upload)
25. Grain (233Mb download / 182Mb upload)
26. Octaplus Networks (231Mb download / 190Mb upload)
27. F & W Networks (233Mb download / 163Mb upload)
28. Boundless Networks (257Mb download / 78Mb upload)
29. Hyperoptic (207Mb download / 196Mb upload)
30. Broadband for Surrey Hills (222Mb download / 154Mb upload)
31. Cogent Communications (220Mb download / 141Mb upload)
32. Lightning Fibre (204Mb download / 174Mb upload)
33. G.Network (206Mb download / 144Mb upload)
34. Trooli (217Mb download / 120Mb upload)
35. Jurassic Fibre (232Mb download / 83Mb upload)
36. TrueSpeed (181Mb download / 213Mb upload)
37. Voneus (189Mb download / 161Mb upload)
38. Gigaclear (172Mb download / 158Mb upload)
39. Cityfibre (186Mb download / 94Mb upload)
40. Wessex Internet (175Mb download / 107Mb upload)
41. Swish Fibre (166Mb download / 156Mb upload)
42. Wildanet (167Mb download / 110Mb upload)
43. Gigaloch (172Mb download / 101Mb upload)
44. Virgin Media Business (198Mb download / 39Mb upload)
45. County Broadband (142Mb download / 140Mb upload)
46. GoFibre (180Mb download / 61Mb upload)
47. TxRx Communications (144Mb download / 130Mb upload)
48. Exa Networks Limited (159Mb download / 106Mb upload)
49. Aspire Technology Solutions (150Mb download / 107Mb upload)
50. NYnet (134Mb download / 137Mb upload)
51. Link broadbands (142Mb download / 108Mb upload)
52. Cambridge Fibre (136Mb download / 113Mb upload)
53. Zen Internet (144Mb download / 87Mb upload)
54. VeloxServ Communications (128Mb download / 117Mb upload)
55. Rocket Fibre (131Mb download / 73Mb upload)
56. Luminet Data Limited (126Mb download / 91Mb upload)
57. COLT Technology Services Group (113Mb download / 104Mb upload)
58. Fibrus Networks (121Mb download / 67Mb upload)
59. Talk Straight (110Mb download / 91Mb upload)
60. Daisy Communications Ltd (113Mb download / 54Mb upload)
61. Zoom Internet Ltd (104Mb download / 95Mb upload)
62. Zayo (105Mb download / 73Mb upload)
63. Vodafone (105Mb download / 56Mb upload)
64. Cerberus Networks (106Mb download / 42Mb upload)
65. Razorblue Ltd (96Mb download / 73Mb upload)
66. Ogi (106Mb download / 31Mb upload)
67. The Networking People (TNP) Limited (89Mb download / 92Mb upload)
68. Merula Limited (107Mb download / 27Mb upload)
69. M247 (100Mb download / 37Mb upload)
70. Vaioni Group (84Mb download / 76Mb upload)
71. Alnwick Computerware (82Mb download / 74Mb upload)
72. Airband (96Mb download / 39Mb upload)
73. BT (104Mb download / 29Mb upload)
74. KCOM (94Mb download / 39Mb upload)
75. Fastnet (81Mb download / 53Mb upload)
76. Claranet (73Mb download / 65Mb upload)
77. Clouvider (95Mb download / 34Mb upload)
78. Bridge Fibre Limited (70Mb download / 65Mb upload)
79. Zscaler (79Mb download / 51Mb upload)
80. Wifinity Networks (66Mb download / 71Mb upload)
81. Choopa, LLC (79Mb download / 46Mb upload)
82. Connexin (73Mb download / 55Mb upload)
83. Netcalibre Ltd (74Mb download / 26Mb upload)
84. Starlink (80Mb download / 12Mb upload)
85. Andrews & Arnold (73Mb download / 27Mb upload)
86. GTT Communications (69Mb download / 36Mb upload)
87. Challenger Technology Ltd (62Mb download / 66Mb upload)
88. Orbital Net (69Mb download / 28Mb upload)
89. Evolving Networks Limited (64Mb download / 34Mb upload)
90. Sky (69Mb download / 20Mb upload)
91. Sprint (63Mb download / 22Mb upload)
92. Gamma (55Mb download / 31Mb upload)
93. hso (47Mb download / 42Mb upload)
94. Mythic Beasts (62Mb download / 17Mb upload)
95. Verizon Business (44Mb download / 45Mb upload)
96. Quickline (51Mb download / 34Mb upload)
97. TalkTalk (52Mb download / 19Mb upload)
98. Plusnet (53Mb download / 15Mb upload)
99. Internet Central (43Mb download / 32Mb upload)
100. VoiceHost Limited (47Mb download / 23Mb upload)
101. Redcentric Solutions (36Mb download / 38Mb upload)
102. EE (46Mb download / 14Mb upload)
103. Spitfire Network Services (39Mb download / 18Mb upload)
104. Node4 Limited (32Mb download / 27Mb upload)
105. Comms West (33Mb download / 10Mb upload)
106. Voxility LLP (27Mb download / 25Mb upload)
107. Atlas Communications (NI) (26Mb download / 21Mb upload)
108. Digital Space Group (28Mb download / 14Mb upload)
109. GCI Network Solutions (33Mb download / 9Mb upload)
110. Converged Communication Solutions Limited (23Mb download / 19Mb upload)
111. Signal Telecom (23Mb download / 9Mb upload)
112. Cloudnet IT Solutions Ltd (20Mb download / 7Mb upload)
113. uno Communications (7Mb download / 1Mb upload)
All speed tests were recorded using the BroadbandUK speed test solution. Used by millions of customers a year, the cross-platform, web-based speed test is one of the leading quantitative measures of internet performance.
Comparing business broadband and commercial products
Business services offered faster internet speeds than home broadband products. UK households recorded an average download speed of 110Mb and 84Mb upload speed. 28% slower than the business-specific connections for download speed and 23% slower for upload speed.
Graph 1: Business broadband vs commercial broadband download speed
When most of us think of broadband speed, we usually think of download speed. This is what’s commonly advertised at the point of sale and for most, it’s what we need from our broadband. Activities such as streaming, online shopping, banking or scrolling through social media don’t require much upload speed.
For this study, we’ve made upload speed an important factor. It’s more commonly required for tasks you would commonly need during a working day, such as uploading large files or photos, sending many emails with file attachments or video calls.
Graph 2: Business broadband vs commercial broadband upload speed
.png)
If you’re curious to see how your broadband compares, head over to our speed test to check your internet service performance.
Can I use a home broadband deal for my business?
Nothing stops a business from using a commercial broadband contract for their broadband supplier, and often, it makes more sense. On average, a business broadband contract costs £40.43 a month, a lot more compared to a fast commercial deal costing on average £27.79 a month.
Alex Tofts, broadband expert at Broadband Genie, comments: “Dedicated business broadband providers offer a great product, but these come at a cost. While you may benefit from opting for a home broadband deal in the short term because of the cost saving, you can get better value over the length of your contract by opting for a business-specific package.
However, while commercial products may do the job, you lose out in a few areas.
Why choose a business broadband contract?
1. Broadband speed
Some home broadband contracts are capable of download speeds of 1Gb, which will be more than enough to handle a large household. However, many business providers will offer dedicated leased lines, meaning you’ll be the only business on the connection. Capable of achieving speeds up to 10Gb.
2. Upload speed
Business users will usually require more upload speed than home users. Broadband deals are advertised with a minimum download speed guarantee. While some home broadband providers are starting to offer symmetrical broadband speeds (where download speed is equal to upload speed), businesses will often offer a contract which has symmetrical broadband speeds.
3. Uptime service guarantees
Business broadband deals usually come with a service level agreement (SLA), which means in the scenario of your connection going down, it shouldn’t be for long.
4. Superior customer service
Business broadband providers offer a higher level of support to their customers compared to a home broadband contract.
5. Static IP address
A home broadband contract will usually come with a dynamic static IP address, whereas a business broadband provider will offer a static IP address.
This allows you to host files, operate servers, enable remote access and can improve security by limiting access of remote systems to a specific address.
6. Traffic prioritisation
If a provider offers both home and business broadband deals, they may prioritise business traffic over users on the home broadband deals.
7. Better hardware
A business broadband deal will often come with a higher spec wireless router. This will improve signal strength (therefore broadband speed) and improve security.
More information is available in our guide to business broadband.
Alex continues: “Whether it’s right for your business, depends on your circumstances. For example, how inconvenient would it be, and how much would your business lose if the internet went down?
“In any case, it’s always best to have a backup. You can upgrade your BT deals to include their Hybrid Connect service. With this, if you experience an outage, you’ll be automatically connected to EE’s mobile network. Vodafone offers a similar solution, with its Pro products, which has a 4G backup of 100GB of data if your primary fixed line goes down.
“It all depends on the business circumstances. Whatever, you choose, it always pays to shop around and use a trusted comparison service to get the best deal.”
-
Methodology
- Broadband Genie analysed 307,828 broadband speed tests that ran between 1st January 2023 - 31st January 2024. Tests were conducted using the BroadbandUK speed test solution on the Broadband Genie website and other partners. Providers were ordered 1st - 113th for both download and upload speed. Providers were then ranked on average of their place for download and upload speed.
- The average cost of broadband contracts was calculated using the top 10 deals from the Broadband Genie fibre broadband page and the Broadband Genie business broadband page. Deals were recorded on 19/04/24.
- Football Manager file size of 7GB downloads in 2 minutes and 23 seconds. Download time was calculated using the Broadband Genie speed calculator.
- A broadband speed of 357Mb uploads a 1GB file in 22.4 seconds. Upload speed was calculated using the Omni calculator.
Why do we need your address?
We need your address to show you the broadband deals available at your home. This information is gathered in partnership with thinkbroadband.
Read our privacy policy for more details.