Connectivity
Business broadband: FTTP, SoGEA and SoADSL
Business broadband without a phone line, from SoADSL and SoGEA to full fibre FTTP, checked for your address, supplied with a managed router and supported from Stockton-on-Tees.
Who it is for
Offices, branches, shops and depots across Teesside and the North East that need a dependable connection for email, Microsoft 365, hosted phones and card payments, where a few hours offline would be an inconvenience rather than a crisis. Also any site still paying line rental for a phone line that only exists to carry the broadband.
What you get
The fastest product your address can get, ordered and installed with a business router we configure and manage, carried onto our own core network, and supported by a service desk in Stockton-on-Tees that answers within three rings and chases the carrier for you when something goes wrong. No phone line, no line rental, and an honest recommendation to move up to a leased line only if your business needs one.
The problem
Your office needs a dependable connection for email, cloud applications, calls and video, but the right product depends on what is available at your address and how much you rely on it.
The names are the confusing part. FTTP, fibre to the premises, is full fibre all the way into the building, the fastest and most reliable broadband there is, and the one to take if your address can get it. SoGEA, single order generic ethernet access, is fibre to the street cabinet and copper for the last stretch, widely available where full fibre has not yet arrived. SoADSL, single order ADSL, is copper all the way, for addresses where neither fibre option exists yet. The "single order" in two of those names matters: none of the three needs a phone line, so you stop paying rental on a line nobody rings.
Availability is street by street, and sometimes building by building on the same estate. The only way to know is to check the address before you commit, which is where every order with us starts. The second question is how much you rely on the line. Broadband shares capacity with other users and is repaired on a best-effort basis; for an office where everything is in the cloud and an outage stops work, that is the point at which a leased line, or at least a 4G or 5G backup, pays for itself.
A carrier owns the last mile, but from there our broadband is carried over BT 21CN interconnects onto a core network Odyssey owns and runs, so when a line fails you are talking to the people who can see it, not a reseller passing on a ticket.
What Odyssey provides
- FTTP: full fibre to the premises, the fastest speeds and lowest latency, where your address can get it
- SoGEA: fibre to the cabinet with no phone line, the widely available choice where full fibre has not yet reached you
- SoADSL: copper broadband with no phone line, for addresses where fibre is not yet available
- An availability check for your address before you commit, and an honest recommendation
- A business router supplied, configured and managed by us, carried onto our own core network
- Installation arranged with the carrier and your site, and support from our own team in Stockton-on-Tees
What is included
| Included | Detail |
|---|---|
| Availability check | What your address can get, from which carriers, before anything is ordered |
| Router | A business router supplied, configured and managed by us, with changes made by our service desk |
| Installation | Ordered with the carrier, the engineer visit arranged with your site, the connection tested end to end |
| Support | Faults reported to our Stockton-on-Tees team, who raise them with the carrier and manage them through to repair |
| Upgrades | Move up a speed tier, from SoADSL or SoGEA to full fibre when it reaches your address, or to a leased line as needs grow |
| Static IP addressing | One static IP address included as standard |
Not included, or sold separately
- A contracted fix time
- Broadband faults are repaired by the carrier on a best-effort basis; a guaranteed fix time comes with a leased line
- Backup connectivity
- A 4G or 5G router that takes over automatically when the line fails is a separate service, and we recommend one wherever the phones or card payments run over the broadband
- Cabling and Wi-Fi inside the building
- From the router onwards is networking and cabling, installed by the same engineers
- A firewall
- The router routes; threat detection and content filtering at the network edge is a hosted firewall, a separate service
- Hosted phones
- Broadband can carry them, and often does, but the phone system itself is a separate service
How it is delivered
-
Check the address
We check what your address can get, from which carriers, and tell you plainly: full fibre if it is there, SoGEA if it is not, SoADSL only where neither is. If your business cannot afford to be offline, this is also where we say a leased line or a backup would serve you better.
-
Choose the speed and the term
Sized for the number of people and what runs on the line, with room to move up a tier later. The term, the monthly charge and the installation charge are confirmed in writing before the order is placed.
-
Order and install
The circuit is ordered with the carrier and the engineer visit arranged with your site. If you are replacing an existing line, the old one stays up until the new one is working, and numbers on any phone line being retired are ported first.
-
Configure the router
The business router arrives configured by us, or our engineer fits it; the connection is tested end to end and brought onto our core network. Wi-Fi inside the building is planned separately if you need it.
-
Support it
Report a fault and a person answers within three rings; we raise it with the carrier, manage it through to repair and keep you told. Speed changes and router changes are made by our service desk.
Why trust Odyssey with this
-
3
Calls answered within three rings, and a director is always reachable
-
In-house
All work completed by Odyssey employees, never subcontracted
-
1987
Supporting North East businesses since 1987
- Delivered over our own business-only core network
Questions people ask
Which broadband should I choose?
It depends on what your address can get and what you use the connection for. FTTP gives the fastest speeds and lowest latency; SoGEA is the widely available alternative; SoADSL covers addresses where fibre is not yet available. We check your address and recommend one.
Do I still need a phone line?
No. SoGEA, SoADSL and FTTP are all broadband without a traditional phone line, so you do not pay line rental for a line you do not use. If you still have a number on the old line, we port it to a hosted service before the line is retired.
What is the difference between SoGEA and FTTP?
SoGEA is fibre to the street cabinet with copper for the final stretch into your building; FTTP is fibre all the way to the premises. FTTP is faster and more reliable, and we move you to it when it reaches your address.
What happens if the broadband fails?
You call our own support team in Stockton-on-Tees, a person answers within three rings, and we raise the fault with the carrier and manage it through to repair. Broadband repair is best-effort, which is why we recommend a 4G or 5G backup for any site that cannot work without the connection.
Is broadband enough, or do we need a leased line?
For an office where a few hours offline would be an inconvenience, full fibre broadband with a backup is usually right. For a site where everything runs on the connection and an outage stops the business, a leased line gives dedicated, symmetric bandwidth and a contracted fix time. We will do the sum with you.
Can we upgrade as we grow?
Yes. You can move up a speed tier, from SoADSL or SoGEA to full fibre when it reaches you, and from broadband to a leased line if the business outgrows it, without changing provider.
Does the connection run on your own network?
Yes. The carrier delivers the last mile; from there the traffic is carried over BT 21CN interconnects onto a core network Odyssey owns and runs, with our own equipment in Manchester and London Docklands.
How long does installation take?
It depends on the product and whether the carrier needs to visit. We confirm the expected date when we check your address and keep you told as the order progresses, and we keep any existing line running until the new one is working.
Challenges this helps with
Related services
Ask about business broadband
Send us your question and we will come back to you. We call back within the hour in office hours.
Rather talk? Call 01642 661888. Already a customer with a fault? Call the service desk on 01642 661800.
Please fill in every field marked *, then send again.
That email address does not look right. Please check it and send again.
We have had several messages from you in a short time. Please call us on 01642 661888 instead.
Online messages are paused for the moment. Please call us on 01642 661888.
Your message is too long for this form. Please shorten it, or call us.
Something went wrong on our side and your message was not sent. Please call us on 01642 661888.
We could not confirm that a person sent this message. Please try again, or call us on 01642 661888.
Talk to a human about business broadband
Call and we answer within three rings. Or tell us what you need and we will call you back at any time.