EE’s new 4G home broadband, which combines the 4GEE Home Router with a powerful external antenna and professional installation service was launched on 9th February. It has caused a great deal of excitement amongst people in rural locations struggling with poor broadband speeds and offers a very large maximum data allowance of 200GB for just £60 per month.
Peter Freeman of Internet Service Provider ‘FreeClix’ said “The use of antennas to increase the signal to an indoor router is nothing new, the industry has been using this solution in rural locations for people with 3G technology for over a decade.
It’s brilliant news that EE have packaged this widely available consumer-grade technology with a large data allowance at such an economical price point for customers. Unfortunately, it doesn’t help the thousands of rural businesses who also want an affordable data package they can use with secure business class hardware enabling them to meet their connectivity needs.”
Whilst being a good news story for many rural homes, the EE 4G home broadband solution is not available to business customers as the monthly data allowance is only available on a consumer tariff to individuals. Currently the largest monthly data package available to small businesses from EE is 120GB at a cost of £90 per month.
Pete continued “At SimRush we only use EE data sims in our 4G hardware. EE has the fastest and most reliable network across the UK, but it’s completely ridiculous that I can’t supply my small business customers with the same amount of data as a consumer can have – from the same provider! EE needs to stop discriminating against the rural business community; EE needs to wake up and step up, rural businesses need EE to provide them with as good a deal as consumers can get to enable them to connect, grow and contribute to the rural economy”
Pete also cautioned business owners against using the home solution hardware to connect their businesses to the internet. “Speed is of course at the forefront of any business owners mind but the 4G connection is only part of what a business needs to provide fast and reliable internet access to its users. Public IP addressing is usually a must, failover or back up connections also need to be considered.”
Security of your and your customers data is of the utmost importance when considering the best connectivity solution, particularly with the new accountability requirement in the GDPR requiring businesses to implement appropriate technical measures to ensure and be able to demonstrate that data processing is performed in accordance with the GDPR.
“Managed WiFi is becoming increasingly necessary to protect business and private data whilst offering guests access to the internet whilst on your premises. Consumer grade equipment is not the path to take for business networks as it does not offer the management facilities required; they don’t have the right tools in the box”