Living and working in the South West is both a unique and wonderful experience - it's why we're based here! However operating a business, and maintaining your network in this beautiful part of the country comes with considerable challenges.
If your business relies on the internet (so… all of them), you'll understand the frustration when it’s slow or drops out, everything else grinds to a halt: sales, comms, bookings, cloud apps and payment systems.
Across the UK, businesses lost over 50 million hours and £3.7 billion in 2023 alone due to internet failures. That’s a lot of wasted time and missed revenue.
For companies in Exeter and Plymouth — where geography, infrastructure and weather can add extra pressure — upgrading to a commercial-grade network isn’t a luxury. It’s productivity insurance.
Let’s break it down.
Why network reliability = productivity
When your network works properly:
- Staff stop waiting for files and systems
- Cloud tools (Microsoft 365, Xero, CRMs) run smoothly
- Calls and Teams/Zoom meetings don’t drop
- Card payments and bookings don’t fail
- Remote teams stay connected
When it doesn’t:
- Projects stall
- Staff waste time troubleshooting
- Customers lose confidence
- You lose revenue
UK SMEs report 94% experience poor connectivity and 91% have outages, yet many still have no backup connection.
Even short outages can cost thousands — some estimates put IT downtime at £4,000 per minute for businesses.
Commercial-grade networks exist to stop that happening.
Region-specific issues in Exeter & Plymouth
Businesses in Devon often face a mix of urban and semi-rural connectivity challenges:
1. Patchy fibre and shared infrastructure
Many areas still rely on Openreach infrastructure shared between multiple providers. If the line goes down, switching provider often won’t fix it because it’s the same physical network underneath. Local report data for Exeter and Plymouth shows outages caused by damaged fibre, exchange faults or infrastructure issues affecting entire areas.
2. Rural blackspots & weather
Cornwall and Devon communities have experienced weeks-long outages and mobile blackspots — highlighting how fragile connectivity can be in the South West.
For businesses on industrial estates or business parks around Exeter/Plymouth, this can mean:
- Slow FTTC connections
- Limited redundancy
- Vulnerability to line damage or storms
3. Growing demand on older networks
As more businesses move to cloud tools, VoIP and remote working, legacy networks struggle to keep up.
Modern workloads need fast, low-latency connections and visibility — outdated infrastructure creates bottlenecks and downtime.
So what actually is a “commercial-grade network”?
Think of it as the difference between home broadband and a proper business system.
A commercial-grade setup usually includes:
- Dedicated or leased-line internet
- Backup/failover connection (e.g. 4G/5G or second line)
- Business-class Wi-Fi across the building
- Proper firewalls and security
- Network monitoring
- Managed switches and access points
- Support and maintenance
The goal: if one thing fails, the business doesn’t.
Why it’s worth the investment
1. Less downtime = more productivity
Some UK businesses now lose money the moment connectivity fails. Commercial networks reduce outages and speed up recovery when they do happen.
2. Better staff efficiency
Reliable connectivity means fewer interruptions and less time fixing tech instead of working.
3. Future-proofing
From cloud software to AI tools, everything needs stable bandwidth. Companies are increasingly treating connectivity as a strategic investment, not just IT spend.
4. Reputation & customer experience
If your booking system, phones or payments go down, customers notice immediately.
5. Real ROI
When downtime costs thousands per hour, the upgrade often pays for itself quickly.
Step-by-step: how to improve your business network
Step 1: Audit what you have
Look at:
- Internet speed vs actual usage
- Wi-Fi dead zones
- Dropouts
- Staff complaints
- Outage history
A proper site survey often reveals hidden issues like poor Wi-Fi coverage or overloaded routers.
Step 2: Fix the internet connection
Options for Exeter/Plymouth businesses:
- Leased line
- Full-fibre business broadband
- Dual connections (different providers)
- 4G/5G failover
The aim is redundancy — so if one line fails, another kicks in automatically.
Step 3: Upgrade internal network hardware
This usually means:
- Business-grade routers
- Managed switches
- Proper access points
- Segmented networks (staff/guest/IoT)
Many Devon businesses still rely on consumer routers, which simply aren’t built for multiple users and cloud workloads.
Step 4: Improve Wi-Fi coverage
Warehouses, hospitality venues and older buildings in Exeter/Plymouth often have thick walls and awkward layouts. Professional Wi-Fi mapping ensures coverage everywhere staff actually work.
Step 5: Add monitoring and support
Modern commercial networks are monitored 24/7. Issues get fixed before staff even notice them.
Signs your business needs an upgrade
- Staff complain about slow internet
- Calls or video meetings drop
- Wi-Fi doesn’t reach everywhere
- You’ve had outages in the last year
- No backup connection
- You rely heavily on cloud software
If any of these sound familiar, you’re probably losing productivity already.
The bottom line
Businesses in Exeter and Plymouth face real-world connectivity challenges: shared infrastructure, patchy fibre rollouts, weather-related faults and growing demand on networks.
A commercial-grade network:
- Reduces downtime
- Improves productivity
- Protects revenue
- Future-proofs your business
It’s not just an IT upgrade — it’s an operations upgrade. Investing in reliable connectivity is one of the simplest ways to boost productivity without hiring more people.