Choosing the right internet plan for your office means matching your bandwidth to your actual usage without overpaying for speed you don't need or underpaying for a connection that slows everyone down. Most small offices need more bandwidth than they think, especially once you factor in video conferencing, cloud file storage, and SaaS applications that everyone uses at the same time.
This guide walks you through how to calculate your real bandwidth needs, compare connection types, and decide whether you need a backup connection.
What You'll Need to Know Before Shopping
Before you call an ISP or compare plans online, gather these four pieces of information:
Number of simultaneous users. Count the employees who are actively online at the same time during your busiest hour. If you have 20 employees but only 15 are typically at their desks using the internet at once, plan for 15.
Primary usage patterns. Think about what your team actually does online throughout the day. Email and basic web browsing use very little bandwidth. Video conferencing on Microsoft Teams or Zoom uses significantly more, especially when multiple people are in meetings at the same time. Cloud-based applications like Microsoft 365, accounting software, and CRM platforms fall somewhere in between. Large file transfers, such as uploading design files or syncing shared folders, can spike your bandwidth usage unpredictably.
Upload speed requirements. If your team does a lot of video conferencing or uploads large files to cloud storage, upload speed matters just as much as download speed. Many cable internet plans advertise fast download speeds but offer upload speeds that are a fraction of the download rate. A plan advertising 500 Mbps download may only include 20 Mbps upload, which becomes a bottleneck quickly.
Tolerance for downtime. Consider what happens to your business when the internet goes down. If your phone system runs over the internet (VoIP), your cloud applications are inaccessible, and your team cannot work, even an hour of downtime costs real money. That changes the kind of plan and backup strategy you should invest in.
How Much Bandwidth Do You Actually Need
Here is a simple framework for estimating your bandwidth needs based on what your team does:
Basic office work such as email, web browsing, and light cloud app usage requires about 5 to 10 Mbps per employee. Regular video conferencing on platforms like Microsoft Teams or Zoom pushes that to 10 to 15 Mbps per employee. Heavy cloud usage, including large file uploads, cloud-based design tools, or constant streaming, requires 15 to 25 Mbps per employee.
To calculate your target plan, multiply the per-employee number by your simultaneous user count, then add 20 to 30 percent headroom for spikes.
For example, an office with 15 employees who regularly use video conferencing would calculate: 15 employees times 12 Mbps equals 180 Mbps. Adding 30 percent headroom brings the target to roughly 250 Mbps. That means a 250 or 300 Mbps business plan would be appropriate.
One detail people often overlook: if your business uses Microsoft 365 Business Premium and your team is actively collaborating in SharePoint, OneDrive, and Teams throughout the day, all of that traffic adds up. Plan for the higher end of the range if cloud collaboration is central to your workflow.
Business Internet vs. Residential Internet
Business internet plans typically cost $20 to $50 more per month than residential plans at the same speed tier. That premium buys you several things that matter for a business:
Service Level Agreement (SLA). Business plans include a contractual guarantee for uptime, usually 99.9 percent, and a committed repair response time. If your internet goes down on a residential plan, you go into the same support queue as everyone else. On a business plan, you get priority response.
Higher upload speeds. Business plans, especially fiber, often offer symmetric speeds, meaning your upload speed matches your download speed. This is critical for video conferencing and cloud file uploads.
Static IP address. A static IP is important if you run a VPN for remote access, host anything on-premises, or need consistent connectivity for security cameras or other IP-based systems.
No data caps. Many residential plans have data caps that you might not notice at home but can easily exceed in an office with 10 or more people.
Priority support. When something goes wrong, you speak to a business support team rather than waiting in a general consumer queue.
The price difference is small relative to the cost of a slow or unreliable connection affecting your entire team's productivity.
Connection Types Compared
Fiber is the best option if it is available at your location. Fiber provides symmetric speeds (same upload and download), the lowest latency, and the highest reliability. Plans range from 100 Mbps to 10 Gbps. If fiber is available, choose it.
Cable is widely available and offers good download speeds, but upload speeds are typically one-tenth of the download speed. Cable bandwidth is shared with other users in your area, which means you may experience slowdowns during peak hours. Cable works well for small offices, but the upload limitation can be a problem for teams that rely heavily on video conferencing.
DSL is legacy technology. Speeds degrade with distance from the provider's equipment, and maximum speeds are generally too low for offices with more than five people. Avoid DSL unless there is truly no other option.
Fixed wireless and 5G are good alternatives in areas without fiber or cable. Latency can be higher than wired connections, and some plans have data caps, so check the fine print. Performance continues to improve as carriers expand 5G coverage.
Satellite is a last resort. The high latency makes video conferencing unreliable and VPN connections sluggish. Satellite is only appropriate for very rural locations with no other options.
The priority order is straightforward: fiber first, cable second, fixed wireless or 5G third.
Do You Need a Backup Internet Connection
Ask yourself this question: if your internet goes down for four hours, what happens to your business? If the answer is that your team sits idle, your phones stop working, and you lose access to every application, a backup connection is worth the investment.
There are a few practical options for backup connectivity. The simplest is a cellular failover device, which is a small piece of hardware that automatically switches your office to a cellular data connection when the primary internet goes down. These typically cost $30 to $60 per month for a data plan and provide enough bandwidth to keep email, cloud apps, and VoIP running during an outage.
A more robust approach is a secondary ISP on a different technology. For example, if your primary connection is fiber, use cable as your backup. Many business-grade firewalls support automatic failover between two internet connections, so the switch happens without anyone needing to do anything.
At minimum, have a documented plan for what your team does when the internet goes down. If your team uses Microsoft 365 Business Premium and devices managed through Intune, employees can switch to working from home or mobile hotspots while the office connection is restored, since their access to cloud resources is tied to their identity rather than the office network.
Questions to Ask Your ISP
When comparing plans or negotiating with an ISP, ask these specific questions:
- Is there a data cap, and what happens if you exceed it? Some ISPs charge overage fees; others throttle your speed.
- What is the upload speed, not just the download speed? Get the exact number, not a vague "up to" figure.
- Is the IP address static or dynamic? If you need a static IP, confirm it is included or ask about the additional cost.
- What is the SLA for uptime and what is the guaranteed repair response time?
- Is the quoted price a promotional rate? If so, what does it increase to after the promotional period, and when does that happen?
- What is the installation timeline and cost? Some business fiber installations take weeks and may involve construction fees.
- Are there early termination fees if you need to cancel or switch providers?
Getting clear answers to these questions before you sign a contract will save you from surprises later.
Need Help?
Choosing the right internet plan can feel overwhelming, especially when ISPs make it hard to compare apples to apples. If you want a second opinion on your options or need help evaluating your current setup, contact Athencia. We help small businesses get the right connectivity without overpaying.
