What are the key leased line benefits?

Find out about leased line benefits and how it will boost your business.

If you’re looking for a way of connecting your business to the internet, then you’ve probably come across leased lines. But what exactly is the difference between broadband and a leased line connection? What are the benefits of a leased line? And what are the leased line benefits to your business?

What is a leased line?

Similar to broadband, it can be either copper, fibre, or a combination of the two. Fibre leased lines offer a full fibre connection. Ethernet over fibre to the cabinet (EoFTTC) arrives via a street cabinet with a final short fibre hop to your premises. All copper leased lines can employ a technology called Ethernet first mile, which uses a combination of twisted pair cables along with some signal processing hardware to give you fast connection speeds over a copper circuit.

Leased lines differ in how they operate. A leased line is a connection between two points, usually your site and your service provider’s data centre, but they can also be used to link your own sites. Unlike broadband, you rent a leased line for your exclusive use.

One of the major leased line benefits is a synchronous connection with no contention and no limits on the amount of data you can transfer. A synchronous connection means that upload and download speeds are equal, so you don’t have to wait to transfer large files or upload data. As the line is exclusive to you, there’s no contention from other businesses using the connection. It delivers smoother performance with cloud-based applications, and bandwidth communication – like video conferencing and VoIP. You’ll get higher speeds and faster uploads.

There will also be no restriction on the amount of data you are allowed to transfer. Broadband – even where it’s advertised as unlimited – is often subject to usage restrictions which limit data or charge for excess usage.

Leased line benefits

So, what are the leased line benefits to your business? To an extent, it’s about how your business makes use of the internet. If you only do light tasks such as send emails, access the web and use a bit of cloud storage, a fibre broadband connection will meet your needs. Considering you may come up against contention from other users at peak times – if you’re in an area with lots of other businesses this may even occur during the day.

If you’re a heavy internet user; as-a-service cloud applications, if you store a lot of data in the cloud, or you run your own mail or web servers, then the difference between leased line and broadband becomes known. The equal two-way speed of a leased line and its unlimited data will be a big advantage.

Leased lines, of course, can be used for more than just accessing the internet. They can be used where you have branch offices accessing your main site remotely, allowing everyone fast network access. If you use services like video conferencing or VoIP phone calls, they’ll reap the benefits of a leased line connection thanks to reliability and synchronous speeds.

The more people who will be using the connection within your company is an issue to consider. As your business grows, you should start to think about installing a leased line instead of broadband. Many businesses are involved with integrated supply chains, exchanging data with suppliers and customers to make operations run more smoothly – also known as IoT. Using a leased line facilitates the easy exchange of data and allow all users to benefit from a better user experience while accessing your network.

Service considerations

When you’re buying a leased line you should get higher speeds and faster uploads. The service provider should offer guaranteed levels of uptime to ensure that the circuit is available when most needed. Leased line SLAs will offer you a better target fix time if something goes wrong. If you’re relying on cloud access for your day-to-day business operation for example, this type of guarantee is essential.

If you’re considering switching to a leased line, it’s vital to look not just at the technology, but at the service provider. Look at what they’re offering in terms of SLAs. Consider the skills and experience the service provider has to offer. Membership of professional bodies and accreditations from major equipment and software suppliers will provide evidence of the skills needed to maintain a high-quality service.

Broadband offers a connection that is fine for home users and small or start-up businesses, however once you start to grow and make more extensive use of the internet, it’s deficiencies become clear. Opting for a leased line promises stronger performance and reliability. SLAs make it a strong contender when using the internet is key to business.

Go online and begin comparing leased line deals for your business.

If you’d like to discuss how a leased line benefits your business, or get more information on the best leased line solution for your business, get in touch online today.