If your business or home is offered the chance to connect to a reliable broadband internet service, you win access to the information superhighway. While many people are opting to use completely mobile connectivity on shared or public wi-fi to avoid having to pay for broadband at home or work, there are three scenarios where you really should have your own in-home or in-office internet.

When you're selling your real estate

Having internet at your fingertips makes marketing, showing and selling your property much easier. You can access recent sales of similar properties, research real estate agents or post your property on a for-sale-by-owner site.

It's easy to locate appraisers, title insurance companies and closing attorneys online, and you can check out their reputations by reading reviews from previous clients before you commit to a given service. Communicating with your agent via e-mail about meetings, open houses and showings is easy and fast via e-mail.

You can also find your next property as well as locate mortgage, moving and property management companies. Most importantly, having reliable broadband in the home can add more than 3 percent, or over $5,000 to the value of your real estate.

When you need more purchasing and customer options

The cost of having broadband internet in the home or business can be offset by the savings a household or company achieves by sourcing the products and services they need at more competitive prices.

It's easier for a business to crunch the numbers on new projects when team members have the internet to easily search what competitors are doing, compare the pricing of new materials and seek out necessary new talent. Homeowners can source everything from babysitters to mechanics to pest control and find the service providers that suit their budgets and schedules. Yes, you can do all of this on your phone, but data caps may make mobile research an expensive option.

If your brick and mortar sales are waning, you have the entire global market as a potential customer base. It's easier than ever to start an online store or market your product via a stunning website, using social media to build buzz and engage with your potential clients for more exposure and sales.

When you live or work in a high-risk situation

Whether you have a medically fragile family member at home, or your business is located where weather patterns can cause wildfires, tornadoes or flooding, you need to have a way to connect quickly with the outside world.

The internet gives you real-time weather and breaking news updates in your area, so you can stay on top of traffic, disease outbreaks and potentially dangerous weather situations. Many emergency and public information services can be set up to deliver e-mail or text alerts to your devices at the first hint of trouble. You can find out where evacuation centers, shelters, food and water aid, and other emergency providers are located before leaving home.

The worldwide web will allow you to access medicine and professional medical services, purchase medical supplies from home, and contact your insurance company without waiting on hold for long periods as you might when contacting your provider via the phone.

Broadband internet is almost a necessity when studying school subjects or applying for jobs. You may get by without it, but your life will be far easier when you have broadband at your disposal whenever you need it. If you are part of a low income household, you may be eligible for a small subsidy to help offset the cost of your broadband service. More details on this new program can be found here.