You've booked the removal firm, signed the new lease, and told the team the big move is happening in six weeks. What most managers don't plan for is the internet connection. Many assume broadband is like a utility you flick a switch on the day you move in, the same way you'd turn on the water or electricity. In reality, business grade connectivity has lead times measured in weeks or months, not days, and if you haven't started the process early, you can end up with no phones and no internet at your new premises for days, sometimes weeks, while you wait for an install slot. For an SME, that can mean lost sales calls, no email access, and a VoIP phone system that simply doesn't work.
Why broadband isn't instant
Residential broadband can often be activated within a week or two. Business connectivity is a different matter. If your new office needs a leased line, lead times of 60 to 90 days from order to install are common, longer if the building needs new ducting or the exchange is some distance away. Even a straightforward FTTP (Fibre to the Premises) install can take four to eight weeks once you account for surveys, wayleaves (permission from landlords to dig or run cabling), and openreach scheduling. If your new site has never had fibre run to it before, add more time still.
The lesson is simple: connectivity needs to be ordered the moment you have a signed lease or a confirmed moving date, not after the desks have been chosen and the signage designed.
Sequencing the move correctly
A smooth transition depends on doing things in the right order, well before moving day:
- Survey the new site early. Find out what's already in the building. Existing cabling, available bandwidth, and whether a previous tenant already has fibre installed can save weeks.
- Order connectivity as soon as the lease is signed. Don't wait for fit out works to begin. Leased lines and FTTP orders should go in the moment you have a confirmed address and access date.
- Provision routers and firewalls in parallel. These can usually be configured off site in advance, so they're ready to plug in the moment the physical connection goes live, rather than waiting for them to be ordered after the line is installed.
- Keep the old connection live until the new one is proven. Where possible, overlap the two. Don't cancel the old office's internet and phone lines until you've confirmed the new site is working end to end.
- Plan a fallback. A 4G or 5G backup router gives you a safety net if the main install slips, so phones and critical systems can still run.
Don't forget the phone system
If your phones run over VoIP, they depend entirely on the internet connection being live and stable. Moving offices without a tested connection in place means moving your phone system blind. Numbers need to be ported or redirected, handsets need to be configured for the new network, and call routing needs testing before anyone relies on it for client calls. This should run alongside the connectivity install, not after it, so that the day you move desks is also the day the phones are confirmed working, not the day you discover they aren't.
What a realistic timeline looks like
As a rough guide for a typical SME relocation:
- 12 weeks before: confirm the new address, survey the site, request quotes for leased line or FTTP.
- 10 weeks before: place the connectivity order, begin router and firewall provisioning.
- 4 weeks before: confirm install date, arrange phone number porting, test backup connectivity.
- 1 week before: final checks, confirm overlap period with old site.
- Moving day: physical move only, connectivity already proven.
Office moves and refurbishments go wrong when connectivity is treated as an afterthought rather than the first thing booked. Valetech Solutions plans and manages connectivity, router and firewall provisioning, and VoIP phone system migrations for SMEs across Greater Manchester, so your move happens on schedule without a gap in service. If you're planning a relocation or refurbishment, get the timeline right before you sign off on moving day. Get in touch with Valetech Solutions to start planning your move.