Choosing business fibre: UFB, Hyperfibre, static IPs and service levels

Residential versus business plans

The same fibre to your premises can carry a residential or business plan. The difference is usually in what comes with it: faster fault response targets, business support lines, static IP options, better management of shared capacity and sometimes service credits if targets are missed. Residential plans are cheaper and can work for very small businesses, but when something goes wrong, they join the general repair queue. If your business stops when the internet stops, a business plan is usually worth the difference. Ask any provider what their fault response targets are, how they report progress and what happens if they are missed. Read the actual terms rather than relying on a sales summary.

UFB speeds and what to pick

Ultra-fast broadband fibre is available across most urban New Zealand. Plans range from modest speeds suitable for a couple of users up to gigabit tiers. Look at both download and upload speeds, as some plans are asymmetric. Cloud-heavy offices that upload files, run cloud backups and hold lots of video meetings benefit from higher or symmetric upload capacity.

A useful approach is to look at your current usage. Most business routers report peak traffic; if you rarely exceed half your current plan, a faster tier will not change much. If you regularly hit the limit at busy times, upgrade. Speed tests at the busiest hour of the day are more revealing than the advertised number.

Hyperfibre and dedicated fibre

Hyperfibre offers multi-gigabit speeds over the fibre network in areas where it is available. It suits businesses moving very large files, such as video production, architecture and engineering firms, or sites with many staff working from cloud storage. Your internal network and devices need to be able to use that speed, otherwise you are paying for capacity you cannot reach.

Dedicated or enterprise fibre gives you an uncontended connection with stronger service commitments, often with a direct path to the provider's network. It costs considerably more and usually has longer install times. It is appropriate for larger offices, hospitals, contact centres and businesses where an hour offline costs more than the monthly difference.

Contention in plain terms

Contention describes how much the capacity behind your connection is shared with other customers. Most mass-market fibre plans share capacity at some point in the network, which is efficient and usually invisible. At very busy times, though, a heavily shared service may slow down. Business plans often manage this more conservatively than residential ones. Providers rarely publish contention ratios, so ask how they manage capacity at peak times and whether business traffic is treated differently. If performance in the evening or at mid-morning is consistently worse than at other times, contention may be the cause, and a different plan or provider can help.

Static IP addresses

By default, many plans give your router an IP address that may change from time to time. A static IP stays the same. You need one if you host anything that outside systems connect to directly, such as a VPN for remote staff, a camera system you access from outside, some accounting or practice software, or a service that whitelists your office address for security.

Many modern cloud services do not need a static IP, so check before paying for one. If you do need it, confirm it is included or what it costs, and make sure it is documented along with who manages the router. When moving providers, plan for the static IP to change and update any systems that rely on it.

Ask about IPv6 support while you are at it. Most small offices still run comfortably on IPv4, but providers are gradually rolling IPv6 out, and some business firewalls need settings changed to handle it properly. It is not a reason to choose one plan over another, just a detail to confirm so nothing behaves unexpectedly after installation.

Questions to ask before signing

What are the fault response and restoration targets, and are they measured during business hours or all hours? Is there a static IP, and at what cost? What is the contract term and the early exit fee? Can the plan be upgraded mid-term? Who supplies and manages the router, and can you use your own firewall?

Ask too about the install: whether your building is already connected, whether consent from a landlord or body corporate is needed and the expected lead time. Then plan a backup connection, because even the best fibre can be cut by roadworks. Office IT's free health check looks at your current connection and network if you would like a second view before choosing.