Internet relief is coming to businesses on Sydney’s Northern Beaches, some of whom face critically slow broadband speeds or are unable to gain access at all.

Suburbs such as Brookvale, Newport, Warriewood and some parts of Dee Why are the worst affected, however the April arrival of the NBN in Brookvale will bring relief to desperate businesses there, according to Northern Beaches business telecommunications specialist, Chris Carnie of Woffle.

“Some businesses in Brookvale are paying huge bills to use 4G dongles for their internet. The rollout of the NBN is coming at a critical time,” Mr Carnie said.

While those fortunate business operators in Brookvale will feel internet relief come April, some regions of the northern beaches will not receive the NBN until 2019.

You can use the NBN’s Check Your Address function to see when the service will be available in your area.

NBN alternatives – due diligence required

“There are often business-grade alternatives to the NBN which are important to consider as a standard ADSL2 line is not suitable for most workplaces,” Mr Carnie said.

He urged businesses to conduct due diligence on the internet capabilities of a property before they sign a lease.

“Internet requirements depend on the type of business and their applications. A video production company will require far more bandwidth than an office focusing exclusively on text documents.”

“However all industries are moving towards the cloud. I can’t think of a single customer of ours who is not interacting with the cloud,” Mr Carnie said, citing the increasing use of Google Apps, Microsoft 365, Dropbox and Xero.

With internet as vital as any other utility, it’s imperative that landlords know what speed of internet they have to offer and consider upgrading if necessary – whether to the NBN or the next best available option – according to Patrick Kelleher, the director of Northern Beaches commercial real estate agency, Pine Property,

“It will benefit their tenants and make their property more attractive. Having quality internet is a major asset,” Mr Kelleher said.

“There is increased interest in the Brookvale business district on the back of the upcoming NBN. Landlords not in this area would be well served by offering a high speed alternative.”

Choosing a business NBN speed

NBN is currently selling 4 speed tiers: 12 mps upload/1 mps download, 25m/5m, 50m/20m and 100m/40m.

Mr Carnie urged businesses to only consider 50m/20m and 100m/40m with 25m/5m and 12m/1m not being suitable.

“No one has ever complained of their Internet being too fast. Go for as much speed and capacity as your budget allows.”