Home broadband is used by eight out of ten small businesses.

It has been revealed that a home broadband connection is used by a massive 79 percent of small businesses for professional use, which contrasts with just 48 percent using pure office/business broadband according the a new study for UK business ISP Pipex (Tiscali) by Redshift Research.

64 percent of those who were asked which method of connection were most frequently accessed stated home broadband, whilst office/business broadband only accounted for 30 percent. Just 35 percent of respondents said that they were most productive when working at the office whereas 55 percent said working from have was where they were most productive.

Flexibility and the time saved commuting are just some of the advantages that can be gained from working at home, with an average of one to two hours spent commuting each day according to the respondents.

The Product and Marketing director at Pipex, Lance Spencer said “The research clearly shows that broadband is a vital business tool and with such easy access, the office may no longer be the preferred working environment. Working from home can be just as effective, however, home broadband tends to be consumer grade and does not come with the features and support of a dedicated business package.”

The heavy reliance on broadband by small business was shown by the survey with 69 percent of respondents saying that the most frustrating situation was “not being able to connect to internet” closely followed by 60 percent saying “not getting access to your emails”, with these being seen as more frustrating that the 31 percent who said traffic jams, 31 percent saying losing your mobile phone, 28 percent saying losing your keys and 22 percent saying cancelled appointments.

The set up and use of broadband is now considered to be easy to set up with only 7 percent saying it was difficult and 77 percent saying that it was either “easy or very easy” to set up.