Small business owners have been warned by UK ISP Easynet that the popularity of the World Cup could lead to the internet connections at the office becoming incredibly slow, as staff clamour to watch matches through media streaming services online. Eclipse also suggested this could be a problem last month, and the logic of the argument seems pretty sound.

After all, a medium sized office where 20 of the workers are watching the World Cup on iPlayer will take up 30 Mbps of bandwidth, enough to happily run at least 50 users simply using the net for casual surfing and emails.

Being a business ISP, it’s no surprise Easynet have singled out businesses that have decided to use home broadband connections in the office rather than choosing a more expensive business broadband option, which usually has a lower contention ratio, although is not often much faster than typical residential broadband.

Managing Director of Easynet Connect stated:

“The biggest worry is for small businesses that are using consumer broadband packages, or low-end business packages whose connections are generally highly contended, sharing their line with other local businesses or households. This type of connection can leave small businesses completely powerless as their connection is slowed down by other people’s demand for shared bandwidth, whether it is the office next door using streaming or the 4pm traffic spike when children return from school.”

Businesses can check out broadband reviews online to find a suitable alternative to residential or home broadband.

Of course, such problems won’t just affect office workers, and at least most managers have the ability to limit bandwidth or block sites, unlike those who share a net connection with others at home. Still, the demand may well be a little overstated, especially amongst the many business that will already have plans for their employees to be able to watch the World Cup through more traditional methods.

However, is a business does wish to change ISPs within a relative short space of time will need to have their MAC code from their provider and be at the end of the contract.