Switching Business Internet Provider: The AMVIA Guide

Why Businesses Switch Internet Provider

Businesses switch internet provider for several reasons: contract expiry and the opportunity to reduce costs, dissatisfaction with speed or reliability, a need to upgrade from FTTC to FTTP or from FTTP to a leased line, or an office move to premises with different available providers.

The switch itself is not complicated, but timing matters. The two most common mistakes are leaving it too late — starting the process only weeks before a contract end date rather than months — and assuming the transition will be automatic without planning for the overlap period.

Step 1: Check Your Current Contract

Before approaching new providers, establish:

• Contract end date: Most business internet contracts run for 24 or 36 months. Check your contract documents or call your current provider.
• Notice period: Most providers require 30 days written notice before the end of the contract. Some require up to 90 days for certain products such as leased lines. Failing to give notice on time can result in automatic renewal for another full term.
• Early termination charges: If you want to leave before the contract end, establish the cost. Leased line ETCs can be substantial — sometimes the equivalent of the remaining monthly fees.

Step 2: Confirm Your Requirements

A provider switch is also the right moment to reassess whether your current connection type is still appropriate. Consider:

• Has your team grown significantly since the last contract was signed?
• Have you moved to cloud-based applications that demand better upload speeds?
• Are you now on VoIP and needing lower latency than standard broadband provides?
• Has full fibre become available at your address since your last review?

If requirements have changed, a like-for-like switch to a different broadband provider may be less valuable than upgrading to FTTP or a leased line at the same time.

Step 3: Get Quotes from Multiple Providers

The UK business internet market is competitive. Getting quotes from multiple providers is straightforward through a specialist broker — AMVIA can return pricing from all major carriers for your postcode in a single enquiry. Key things to compare:

• Monthly rental cost
• Installation and activation fees
• Contract length (typically 24 or 36 months)
• SLA terms — uptime guarantee and fault repair time
• Static IP inclusion
• Hardware (router) supplied or required separately

Step 4: Place the Order Early

Leased line installations typically take 30-60 working days from order. FTTP installs usually take 1-4 weeks. Even a simple broadband transfer can take 2 weeks. Starting the order process at least 8-10 weeks before your current contract expires gives you a comfortable margin.

For leased lines in particular, the new circuit should be installed and tested before the old one is cancelled — not ordered at the same time as the cancellation notice.

Step 5: Plan the Migration Window

The migration itself — the moment traffic switches from the old connection to the new one — should be planned for a low-risk period. For most businesses this means:

• Late Friday evening or over a weekend
• During school holidays if your business is term-sensitive
• Outside a busy trading period

For broadband products, the switch is typically instantaneous at the activation point. For leased lines, the new circuit is installed in parallel with the old one and tested before a planned switchover.

Keeping Your Static IP

If your current connection has a static IP address that is whitelisted with third-party services or used for VPN connections, check whether you can retain this address when switching providers. In most cases, static IPs are issued by and belong to the ISP — they cannot be transferred. You will need to update all whitelists and VPN configurations with the new provider's static IP allocation before or shortly after the switch.

What AMVIA Manages for You

AMVIA handles the entire switching process for business clients: comparing providers, placing the order, managing the installation, coordinating the migration window and providing ongoing support after go-live. For businesses without in-house IT resource, this removes the burden of managing multiple provider relationships and technical coordination.