The Lagoon TechMy little blog in Cyberspace.

You may not have realized it, but Internet Service Providers (ISPs) usually offer both residential and business Internet plans for customers. For the typical Internet user, residential plans should suffice. However, for business people, server enthusiasts (people who like running their own Internet servers), film makers, and people who download a lot (ie. Netflix or YouTube), a business plan would be more appealing.

I am going to give you typical benefits of both residential and business ISP plans. Please note that these are just generalities. Your ISP may differ with the way they run their business.

Residential Internet Plans  –  Benefits

1. You usually get faster download and upload speeds for a lower price than a business plan.
2. Save money with lower prices.
3. With faster Internet speeds, technically more household members can be using the Internet at once before a major slowdown happens (not always true though).

Business Internet Plans  –  Benefits

1. Should be allowed to run your own Internet server (self-hosting, when done in the right conditions, is better than paying someone else to host your websites   Think: Who would value your website data more…the web-hosting company…or you?).
2. Should not have any bandwidth limit per month (great for running servers and watching many online videos; don’t have to worry about going over some bandwidth limit per month and possibly getting disconnected!).
3. Should get faster/better technical service when you have trouble.
4. Should get free repair work done on your line (if it is not too extensive).
5. Should be allowed to purchase a static IP address (a MUST if you want to host your own e-mail server or DNS server!).
6. Should be allowed to run a VPN between two or more networks (you might be allowed to do one or more VPN(s) on a residential Internet plan, but I have never tried).

Summary

Basically if you want just cheap and fast, a residential Internet plan should do fine for you.

However, if you are running a business (offline or online), want to host your own server, want a static IP, and/or want a very high (or no) bandwidth limit per month, a business Internet plan should be want you want.