Vodafone Business Broadband Guide

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Did you know that Vodafone was responsible for the UK’s first mobile call, on New Year’s Day 1985? And that in 1992, it went on to send the country’s first text message?

Those are impressive ‘firsts’ to lay claim to, and, 34 years later, Vodafone is still at the forefront of innovative communication technologies – whether that’s launching 5G across the UK in 2019, delivering Gigabit-capable full fibre broadband, or working with the government to champion the digital economy.

It’s something of a surprise, then, that it took Vodafone so long to get around to offering broadband…

First launched in 2015, Vodafone Business Broadband is fast, affordable, and reliable. But is it right for your business?

This article will cover

Vodafone Business Broadband plans and costs
Vodafone Business Broadband features
Switching to Vodafone Business Broadband
Vodafone for Business benefits
Vodafone Business Broadband and Phone
Vodafone Enterprise Broadband
How does Vodafone compare to other providers
Next steps

Vodafone Business Broadband plans and costs

Vodafone offers two different business broadband packages. They’re largely similar in terms of usage, contract length, and extras. The major difference is in Mbps, which stands for megabits per second – in other words, the speed of your internet connection.

Both include phone and line rental in the price, as well as a Vodafone broadband router. However, installation costs may apply if you need an Openreach line.

As you’ll see, the monthly price is lower if you already have a Vodafone mobile contract.

In comparison to other providers, Vodafone’s prices are mid-range – not the cheapest, but definitely affordable.

You also benefit from only being tied into an 18-month contract. Indeed, comparable plans from top providers usually have 24-month terms.

Essentials Superfast 1

35 Mbps

25 Mbps guaranteed minimum download speed, or money back
Unlimited broadband usage
18 Months minimum term
Vodafone Wi-Fi Hub
3-month free trial of F-Secure SAFE
Single Static IP address

Cost: £18.33/month (exc. VAT)
Cost with a Pay Monthly mobile: £16.66/month (exc. VAT)

Essentials Superfast 2

63 Mbps

55 Mbps guaranteed minimum download speed, or money back
Unlimited broadband usage
18 Months minimum term
Vodafone Wi-Fi Hub
3-month free trial of F-Secure SAFE
Single Static IP address

Cost: £22.50/month (exc. VAT)

Cost with a Pay Monthly mobile: £20.83/month (exc. VAT)

Yes, I’d like to find out what Vodafone Business Broadband can do for my business!

Vodafone Business Broadband features

It’s not all about the price and contract, however. Often, what sets broadband provider plans apart is the features and benefits they offer their business customers.

So, what does Vodafone offer?

Control profiles

Vodafone offers five different control profiles, which limit or allow access to different kinds of online content.

Not that your hardworking employees should be accessing NSFW content at work, but it helps to have that extra layer of security, and it can even improve productivity.

The different control profiles are:

Off – this is the default setting when you first buy Vodafone Business Broadband, where absolutely nothing is blocked
Safe – blocks all malicious sites
Super Safe – blocks malicious sites, as well as adult, hate, violence and weapons, drugs and crime, alcohol and tobacco, gambling, and dating sites
Ultra Safe – the same as Super Safe, but also blocks sex education content, social networks, and games
Custom – allows you to customise your own settings

F-Secure SAFE antivirus software

In an age of increasing cybersecurity threats, you need to protect your data against evermore sophisticated attacks.

With this in mind, it’s good to know that, as a Vodafone Business Broadband customer, you receive F-Secure SAFE antivirus software for free for the first three months.

This provides protection against viruses, spyware, infected email attachments, and other malware.

You can choose to protect up to five, 10, 15, or 20 devices at a time.

After that, you get a 12-month subscription at under half the price if you sign up for an annual package.

Static IP address

With Vodafone Business Broadband, you get a static IP address included with your package as standard.

A Static IP Address is a permanent number assigned to a computer by an internet service provider. This allows you to deploy your own services or host your own website.

Vodafone Business Broadband also gives you the option to buy extra static IP addresses if necessary, either when you buy its service, or online at any point during your contract.

You can order up to eight static IP addresses for one fixed price.

The addresses will be emailed to you, and will be available as soon as your account is activated.

Switching to Vodafone Business Broadband

Vodafone handles everything when you switch to one of its business broadband plans.

It takes care of all the admin with your old provider, so you don’t have to have an awkward breakup conversation.

The only time this might not be the case is if you’re a Virgin media customer, in which case you’ll still have to cancel directly.

If there’s availability in your building, the switch-over should be instant.

Please switch me over to Vodafone Business broadband now.

Vodafone for Business benefits

Vodafone has a number of customised offerings for businesses to make your day-to-day life a little bit easier.

These include…

Vodafone Rapid

According to Vodafone, losing access to a mobile even for a day could cost your small business up to £12,000! This handy service can get a replacement phone to you within four hours of you making an approved insurance claim.

Vodafone customer support

Smaller businesses with up to 10 phone connections receive a ‘Vodafone Prime Contact’.

This is a UK-based adviser from the Vodafone expert business team, who is trained to take care of any account-related query and fix problems fast. You can either call them up between 8am and 9pm, or use the online chat function.

Vodafone Broadband app

Control your wifi router from your phone with this handy app. It allows you to change settings, limit when people can go online, and even boost your internet speed for certain devices.

Speed guarantee

If the speed of your broadband to your router drops below the guaranteed speed (25 Mbps for Superfast 1, 55 Mbps for Superfast 2), Vodafone will give you a 15% discount until it’s fixed.

You can check your speed and claim your discount using the Vodafone Broadband app.

Vodafone Business Broadband and Phone

Powered by its high-speed fibre optic network, Vodafone claims to offer a “more responsive”, Broadband and Phone service, with low-cost calls.

With Vodafone’s Business Broadband and Phone premium package, you get a free mobile wifi device with 4GB of UK data every month. This can be used as a wifi hotspot, allowing you to work from anywhere. With the Premium packages, you can make unlimited calls to 01, 02, and 03 numbers, as well as mobiles. Standard call charges apply to the Essentials package.

Support Plus provides a “business-quality” service level agreement. This ensures any faults are fixed within one working day (or within eight hours if you opt for the Premier Support Service), so your business won’t be offline for long.

Business Broadband and Phone plans

Essentials ADSL 17 (up to 17 Mbps download speeds)

Cost (existing customer): £20.83/month*
Cost (new customer): £20.83/month

Essentials Superfast 1 (up to 38 Mbps download speeds)

Cost (existing customer): £18.29/month
Cost (new customer): £16.63/month

Essentials Superfast 2 (up to 76 Mbps download speeds)

Cost (existing customer): £19.96/month
Cost (new customer): £18.19/month

All Essentials packages come with:

Standard call charges
Unlimited downloads (acceptable usage policy applies)
Single Static IP address
Standard support
18-month contract
Installation
Line rental included (exc. VAT)

Premium Superfast 1 (up to 38 Mbps download speeds)

Cost (existing customer): £30.66
Cost (new customer): £34.82

Premium Superfast 2 (up to 76 Mbps download speeds)

Cost (existing customer): £35.65
Cost (new customer): £39.82

All premium plans include:

Unlimited anytime minutes to UK landlines and mobiles
Unlimited downloads
Single Static IP address
Support plus
24-month contract
4GB mobile wifi device
Installation
Line rental included (exc. VAT)

*All prices exc. VAT

Vodafone Enterprise Broadband

If you have 50 or more employees, Vodafone has a range of broadband packages tailored just for you.

Vodafone Enterprise Broadband is a scalable solution that’s designed with the needs of larger businesses in mind. It can be used both at commercial sites, and by any home workers on your team.

Its features include:

One single account
One bill for multiple connections
Dedicated, tailored support and priority incident fixing
A static IP address
Optional ‘ultra-smart’ router, with beamforming technology that sends a stronger signal to your devices
Assured internet access – optional assured rate of 1Mbps, 5Mbps, 10Mbps, or 20 Mbps

There are three different options:

ADSL 17
Fibre 38
Fibre 52
Fibre 76

How does Vodafone compare to other providers

Vodafone was number one in our list of the UK’s best business broadband providers.

We scored each provider on three vital metrics, including:

A fast, reliable connection
Customer care
Fair, transparent pricing

Vodafone topped the list of six with a 4.5 out of five rating, thanks to its fair and transparent pricing (no line rental or upfront pricing), excellent customer support, and great coverage.

However, while most customers surveyed were very happy with its coverage and speed, rural customers have had issues with reliability.

How does Vodafone stack up?

TalkTalk Business Superfast Simply Fibre Broadband

76 Mbps
Unlimited downloads
24-month contract
£29.50/month
No setup cost

BT Business Superfast Essential Fibre & Value Line

76 Mbps
Unlimited downloads
24-month contract
£29.99/month
£8.50 setup cost

Next steps

Before committing to any particular business broadband supplier, you should explore the offerings from several different providers.

The above should have given you an in-depth insight into what Vodafone Business Broadband has to offer small businesses.

If you’re convinced Vodafone is the supplier for you, click on the link below to get started with a Vodafone account.

Yes, I’d like to try Vodafone for business today!

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Vodafone Business Broadband

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