Guides
Small Business Internet Canada: What to Check
Small business internet Canada buyers can compare technology, upload speed, contract terms and monthly totals, then test the connection after installation.
What to take away
- The CRTC's wholesale high-speed access framework sets rules for competitors' access to incumbent networks, so one address may have several provider options.
- Small business internet Canada buyers should ask about technology, upload speed and term length before anyone mentions price.
- Get a written monthly total that shows the line, equipment and voice seats separately.
- A quote that refuses a written total should end the call, and so should one that needs a bundle to reach the advertised rate.
- Run a wired speed test in week one and keep the results.
Business circuits against household plans
An office that backs up to cloud storage every night needs upload capacity, not only a fast download figure. A business internet comparison built on upload speed and term length will rank providers differently from one built on headline download speed.
Access Technologies for Business
Fibre to the premises
- Typical business fit
- Cloud backups and hosted voice
- What to check
- Build cost and lead time
- Upload speed
- Highest
- Latency
- Low
Cable DOCSIS
- Typical business fit
- Sites already passed by coax
- What to check
- Upload tier and peak-hour load
- Upload speed
- Usually slower than downstream
- Latency
- Low
DSL over copper
- Typical business fit
- Backup circuits on a budget
- What to check
- Distance from the central office
- Upload speed
- Slows with distance
- Latency
- Low
Fixed wireless
- Typical business fit
- Rural yards and short-term sites
- What to check
- Line of sight and latency
- Upload speed
- Needs clear path to tower
- Latency
- Adds round-trip delay
A retail counter needs voice that keeps working when the broadband link fails, and a card terminal needs the same. The four access technologies are not interchangeable across business addresses, so match the technology to the work before you compare prices.
Typical business fit
- Fibre to the premises
- Cloud backups and hosted voice
- Cable DOCSIS
- Sites already passed by coax
- DSL over copper
- Backup circuits on a budget
- Fixed wireless
- Rural yards and short-term sites
What to check
- Fibre to the premises
- Build cost and lead time
- Cable DOCSIS
- Upload tier and peak-hour load
- DSL over copper
- Distance from the central office
- Fixed wireless
- Line of sight and latency
Fibre carries the highest upload speeds, and cable is usually faster downstream than upstream. DSL slows with distance from the central office, while fixed wireless needs a clear path to a tower and adds round-trip delay.
Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED)'s Universal Broadband Fund supports projects to expand broadband access in underserved communities. Until a new fibre option reaches your town, fixed wireless pricing is worth reviewing before you accept a rural quote.
Questions to ask before you sign
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) administers the wholesale high-speed access (HSA) framework, which sets rules for competitors' access to incumbent networks. Availability and support still depend on the address and provider. Examples to check by service address include Bell, Rogers, TELUS, TekSavvy and Distributel; availability and underlying networks vary. The Broadcasting Act (Canada) is not the statute governing these telecommunications service terms; the relevant federal statute is the Telecommunications Act. Use the written agreement to confirm your service terms.
Five Questions Before You Sign
- Which technology serves this address, and who owns the last mile?
- What are the download and upload speeds on the tier quoted?
- How long is the term, and is the price fixed?
- What is the installation lead time, and what delays it?
- What is the early cancellation fee, as a formula or a table?
A reseller riding an incumbent's line is not automatically the weaker choice. It is often the same fibre or copper with different billing and support.
Where construction is needed, an illustrative range is 30 to 90 days from order to handover. Ask which steps sit on your side of that date.
Evidence to get in writing
Request the agreement and the price schedule as a PDF before the install date. A verbal quote is not evidence.
Voice seats ride the same circuit, and the VoIP systems security questions that matter most concern failover and 911 routing. Put these in writing before anyone schedules an install:
Evidence to Get in Writing
- The complete service agreement, before you sign.
- A price schedule with every recurring charge on its own line, including voice seats.
- The early cancellation fee as a formula or a table, not a range.
- The fault escalation path, with response and repair targets.
Cancellation costs depend on the agreement and service, so ask for the formula in writing before accepting a long term. For fixed wireless, ask the provider about spectrum availability and line-of-sight conditions. ISED's Canadian Table of Frequency Allocations describes radio spectrum allocations; it does not set subscriber cancellation terms.
Example: two quotes for one office
A twelve-person office in Mississauga can buy cable from the incumbent and from a reseller on the same line. Figures here are illustrative.
Quote A: 500 megabits down and 30 up for CAD 135 a month on a three-year term. Quote B: 300 down and 30 up for CAD 175 a month with no term.
Quote B is not the worse deal. It costs more each month and carries no cancellation fee, so it wins if the lease might change inside a year. Rank the two on first-year cost, the step our business internet pricing method takes.
Contract terms the agreement must state
The contract must name the technology and both speed figures. State the monthly price, the equipment charge and the term length separately. The early cancellation fee belongs there as a formula or a table, not a range.
Ask whether the price is fixed for the term or can rise, and when. Ask whether voice and broadband sit on one contract or two, because a single renewal date is easier to manage.
Confirm whether 911 service and number portability sit inside the quoted voice seats or are billed as extras.
Speed testing after installation
Run a speed test over a wired connection in week one, at peak evening hours, and record three results on different days.
If delivered speed sits far below the advertised figure at peak hours, open a ticket and keep the screenshots. Record the test date and time, wired setup, results, advertised plan speed and ticket number, and keep the provider's response. Our business internet troubleshooting walkthrough lists the evidence to gather before you escalate.
