A home office and a storefront can sit on the same plan and still need different homework. One is a person and a laptop; the other is customers, cash, a payment terminal and sometimes staff. This guide keeps to what High Desert publishes and what any small business should ask any provider.
Takeaways
- Plans are labeled Residential and Small Business: Bronze $50, Silver $75 and Gold $99 a month, speeds up to 500 Mbps, up to 800 Mbps and up to 1 Gig down.
- Upload is up to 200 Mbps on every plan, which is the number video calls, cloud backup and cameras lean on.
- A static IP address, a service level agreement and a dedicated circuit are not published; ask before you plan around them.
- A commercial lease needs the landlord's permission for an antenna.
What does High Desert publish for business?
On its plan cards the company labels all three plans Residential and Small Business, with the same local support for both: the office 9 to 5 every day and a network crew on call around the clock. There is no separate business price list, no static-IP product, no service level agreement and no dedicated circuit published, so those are not part of anything we say here. If you need one, ask the office. The business internet page and the home-business page go further.
What does a home office need?
Most home offices need a stable connection for video calls, access to cloud files and a router placed where the work happens. The FCC's Broadband Speed Guide lists telecommuting at 5 to 25 Mbps for that one activity, and every High Desert plan is above the FCC Household Broadband Guide's highest band of more than 25 Mbps (FCC guides, read 10/15/26; the FCC calls the figures rough guidelines). Upload matters as much as download for calls, and the plans publish upload up to 200 Mbps. Wire your desk with a cable if you can; see ethernet for the things that matter and why video calls freeze.
What does a storefront need?
A storefront has more devices that must stay online at once: a card terminal, a phone line, a camera or two, maybe a customer Wi-Fi network and a back-office computer. Plan the layout before the plan. Where does the antenna see the tower from: the roof of your unit, or a shared building roof that the landlord controls? The guide on card readers and point-of-sale covers the payment side, guest Wi-Fi for customers the public side and backup internet what to do if the line drops.
What changes with a lease?
If you rent the space, the landlord decides where equipment goes. The FCC's OTARD rule limits some restrictions on small antennas for a tenant with exclusive use of the space, but it has exceptions and is not a promise; read what we need from a landlord or HOA. Also ask the landlord about shared power, roof access and what happens to holes in the wall at the end of the lease. The agreement makes the customer responsible for alterations made to provide service after it ends.
Which plan should I look at?
Start from the number of people and what they do at the same time, not from the speed. A one-person office with video calls and cloud files can sit comfortably on a lower tier; a shop with cameras uploading, staff on calls and customers on guest Wi-Fi may want more headroom. Every speed on every plan is an up to figure, not a measurement at your door, and each service level has a data transfer limit that you can ask about by email at info@hdiss.net. The agreement charges $1 per gigabyte over the limit in a billing cycle.
What should I ask when I call?
Ask whether your address has a path to a tower. Ask what the data transfer limit is for the plan you are considering. Ask whether a static address is available. Ask who answers the phone if the line drops during business hours, and what the office hours are; the Google listing says 9 to 5 every day. Ask what a service call costs when the trouble is on your side. Write the answers down, then compare with whatever else reaches your address. The address check is where it starts, and a person will look at the path and call you back.
Sources
- hdiss.net/ (plan cards, read 10/15/26)
- fcc.gov/consumers/guides/broadband-speed-guide (FCC Broadband Speed Guide; fcc.gov blocked our fetch, figures from the guide's PDF, read 10/15/26)
- fcc.gov/consumers/guides/household-broadband-guide (FCC Household Broadband Guide; fcc.gov blocked our fetch, figures confirmed on a state mirror 10/15/26)