Vodafone UK Launch “enterprise grade” FTTC Broadband for SMEs
ISP Vodafone UK has today partnered with Cisco to launch an “enterprise grade broadband and Wi-Fi solution” for small and medium-sized businesses (10 – 250 employees), which is said to feature “advanced security features” to ensure SMEs have everything required to stay connected, secure and in control. But it’s only FTTC.
Prices for the new “Complete Connectivity” service start at £70 +vat per month on a 36-month term and for that you get an “up to” 76Mbps capable Fibre-to-the-Cabinet (FTTC / VDSL2) broadband connection (assuming you have a copper line that can manage those speeds), albeit one that comes coupled to “simple-to-manage, enterprise grade hardware and software.”
The new service is said to feature “advanced security features” such as Malware Protection, Intrusion Prevention and Content Filtering as standard. On top of that, it also includes an in-built 4G mobile backup system “which kicks in seamlessly should you lose WiFi to ensure your internet connection isn’t disrupted.”
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Apparently, all of this is being underpinned by Cloud Managed IT and WiFi (inc. analytics to monitor the wireless network) with enterprise-grade security from Cisco Meraki. Customers will thus receive both a Vodafone broadband router and the Cisco Meraki MX68CW security device. SMEs can also add on additional Cisco or Meraki devices, such as Wi-Fi 6 access points, smart cameras and so forth.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWS52M4ycyQ
Andrew Stevens, Head of Small Business at Vodafone UK, said:
“Our small business customers are constantly telling us how much they rely on a secure and reliable broadband connection to conduct business effectively. That’s why we’re delighted to be launching this new solution with Cisco which enables business customers to easily run a reliable, secure, futureproof, and truly scalable broadband and Wi-Fi service, in an affordable way without any significant, one-off costs.
With the number of sophisticated cyber-attacks on SMEs increasing daily, having secure and reliable access to the internet has never been more critical. Falling victim to an online attack can be both financially and reputationally damaging for SMEs, so it’s crucial businesses now have access to a professional grade service, which provides rich insights and is easy to manage.”
We have to question the language of “futureproof” above, particularly whenever older broadband connections technologies like Openreach’s FTTC service are used for the underlying service delivery. But there’s little doubt that the Cisco element in this package is quite a premium feature.
The price tag of £70 per month might otherwise seem expensive, but it’s worth remembering that the Cisco Meraki MX68CW is a very expensive piece of kit all by itself and normally attracts a similarly expensive support licence.
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Mark is a professional technology writer, IT consultant and computer engineer from Dorset (England), he also founded ISPreview in 1999 and enjoys analysing the latest telecoms and broadband developments. Find me on X (Twitter), Mastodon, Facebook, BlueSky, Threads.net and Linkedin.
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Looks pretty good, potentially could expand this with FTTP in the future I guess but higher tiered services would require hardware upgrades as the NAT TP is maxed at 450mb/s.
“which kicks in seamlessly should you lose WiFi to ensure your internet connection isn’t disrupted.”
What’s this fascination with wifi, BT are always advertising ‘Best wifi speeds’ when its the FTTC speeds that count.
It’s because the “person on the street” comments about their “Wifi being slow” but rarely say “we have really slow ping times and the contention ratio is pretty bad in this area”
Most people have absolutely no clue about WiFi speeds VS Line speeds unfortunately.
The same customers believed and trusted BT had sold them a “fibre” connection when it was actually an inferior connection over copper.
Now these same customers are being leafleted “to upgrade to Fibre” (FTTP) and for the life of them they simply cannot understand why this product is being offered to them when they all think they already have “fibre”
What a disaster. This marketing fiasco will seriously harm FTTP uptake in the UK.
RN – the “copper is fibre now” stuff was started by Virgin (they did it when BT was still trialling FTTC in the lab). The ASA certainly disagrees with you as well.
The industry has already moved towards calling FTTP “full fibre” and life will go on.
Businesses with 10 to 250 employees and just one FTTC line?
Looks like its a multi site solution. each site to have average 10-20 employees or less. They are offering DIA (dedicated internet access) services with 100 Mbps or more when no of employees are greater than on a single site. £70 is for broadband offering but it is £175 for DIA services with 100 Mbps .
£70+vat per month on a 36-month term: urgh.
What you get is snake-oil in a box. Most malware gets into your PC either by (a) opening an infected E-mail, or (b) clicking on a malware link. Both of these are normally encrypted (POP3/IMAPS or HTTPS), which means a firewall can’t and won’t block them.
If you *really* want a MX68CW you can pick it up for £684+VAT, and then use it with a quality ISP of your choice – in the long run you will save a lot of money.
£684+VAT! does it come with H/W and Licenses also does it include Advanced Firewall License over 3 years too? If that’s true, can you share me the site from where I can buy this combination and probably you can claim some commission on the back of generating a new sale for that site! Have been eying for an MX68CW and if it is £684 all it is, would avoid getting into a 3 years contract as already got the broadband today in the business.
You’re really going to lose it when you find out about HTTPS inspection.
Meraki would be a no-brainer without the subscription. But it’s bad enough Cisco own it. Vodafone managing it?! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAH… seriously?… BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA no.
£1 per megabit and an overpriced Cisco room heater that can only do 450 Mbps.
Bahahahahah
there is always global rackets, who involve in this curse of cybercrime, global cyber uniform laws should be framed. Yes with a quick CERT response system.