What Is A Leased Line?
Leased Lines
So what is this type of internet service and is it the best out there in the UK for data connectivity? What sort of high speeds are available? How long does it take to get one installed? What size would i need to suit my business?
These are just some of the questions that we will be asking. If you are looking for all the answers and more then you are in the right place. With more and more business joining the bandwidth revolution, this is the right place for the right answers to your questions.
So what are we waiting for? Lets jump straight in and start clarifying everything to the best of our ability for you. So where do we start?
The Ultimate In Data Connectivity Solutions
A leased line offers a totally uncontended connection. It’s a dedicated line which you share with nobody, with bandwidth availability ranging from 10Mb to 10Gb with speeds that are totally symmetrical and offering reliability that easily surpasses all broadband packages on the market in the data network arena.
It also come with a 100% target SLA (service level agreement), totally unlimited usage, the ability to upgrade your bandwidth, a managed router plus 24/7 support 365 days a year. It really is the ultimate cost effective business solution.
So, Can Anyone Get One?
Basically yes. The nearer you are to a town or city, the more chance there will be of success. The vast majority of the UK is covered but there will always be a few problem areas.
If you live in the middle of a field surrounded by nothing then you can still get one BUT there will be the potential for huge extra charges but these will not be identified until a site survey has taken place.
At this point if the charges are too high, you can simply cancel and explore other options. We take every case individually so sometimes if there are excess charges, instead of having to pay the lump sum up front we can add it on to your monthly rental over the term of your contract which gives us a lot more flexibility than the majority of providers in the UK.
How Fast Can They Go?
As fast as you want them to be! With speeds ranging from 10Mb right the way up to 10Gb, there is a speed suitable for every business of every size whether you’re an SME or large corporate.
The most common speed in the UK at time of writing (January 2019) is 100Mb. Over the next few years and due to the demand in modern day industries, this will rise to a 1Gb speed being the best selling!
What Equipment Is Needed To Connect To It?
With all our connections we provide Cisco routers (or equivalent) which are shipped out pre-configured for you so you can simply “plug and play”.
How Are The Speeds Delivered?
You may think it’s simply delivered using fibre Ethernet cables but there is more to it than that. If we take a 10Mb connection as an example, there are options.
Firstly we can use the traditional fibre optic for the line or secondly, a product such as EFM would utilise copper based technology. A lot of the local telephone exchanges can offer this but the availability depends on your distance from the exchange plus the availability of spare telephone lines.
There is also a FTTC (fibre to the cabinet) offering but a dedicated line still remains head and shoulders above the other technologies mentioned plus prices have come down so much that it’s worth paying that little bit extra for the quality you will get.
Do They Have Telephony Benefits?
It certainly can do! Once they have been installed at your business, the next step now the bandwidth is sorted is to save money on old style ISDN2’s and ISDN30’s to name just a couple of the technologies out there.
Newer technologies such as VoIP, SIP trunks and hosted telephony can cut your phone calls by more than half! That saving can then go towards your new circuit making it even cheaper! Please ask for more details on our telephony offerings.
Totally Dedicated Line
With a totally uncontended private line, your business does not need to share bandwidth with any other business unlike broadband giving you total confidence and peace of mind in the speeds available.
Guaranteed Symmetric Download And Upload Speed
Having symmetrical speeds means your download and upload speeds are the same. This is essential for downloading important files, uploading to the cloud, sharing files plus the use of VoIP.
Totally Unlimited Usage
Use as much as you want! There is no fair use policy with us so you are free to upload and download to your hearts content as there are no data rates to worry about.
Lowest Latency
If latency is above 120ms then it can seriously affect business applications such as VoIP. We have sub 20ms as standard!
100% Target Service Level Agreement
The internet is mission critical to a lot of businesses so the thought of down-time is not good! We have an outstanding 99.999% uptime for your total peace of mind. Please ask for a copy of our SLA.
Ability To Upgrade Your Bandwidth
To future proof your business (and as long as you have the capacity on the bearer), you can upgrade your speeds at any stage through the term of your contract so you will never be left in need of more.
Fully Managed Cisco Router
Our Cisco routers which come “as standard” with all our lines are fully managed with onsite engineer install included. Cisco are the number 1 name for reliability when it comes to routers so why use anything else but the best?
24/7/365 Support
All our lines as standard come with 24/7 support, 365 days a year. We also have a 2 hour response. 4 hour fix guarantee to keep you connected whatever time of day it may be including all bank holidays, Christmas etc.
More Leased Line Questions Answered
Is There A Backup Option?
Yes, there are several. In the very rare case of your line going “down”, you have the choice of backup options. The first would be to have a standard broadband backup. This is the cheapest option but in all cases, whatever backup line you choose, if the primary line does go down then it will automatically fail over to the backup line so you have an “always on” connection.
The second option, if available is EFM (Ethernet first mile) which is a very effective backup option for lower speed lines as this also has synchronous speeds but runs off copper technology.
And the final option is to have another leased connection from a different provider so for example, you would have your main connection from BT and the backup line would be from Virgin. This option gives you “true resiliency” and your service would never be affected but this is also the most costly.
Is there a Service Level Agreement (SLA)?
Absolutely yes. All customers can expect a 99.9999% target service level agreement. This agreement, if breached and your service is down for a prolonged period of time then you will be entitled to service credits as a form of compensation. Please ask for a copy of the SLA.
If customers require an SLA of 100% then they must take a backup circuit. In the event of the main circuit going down, it will then automatically failover onto the backup circuit giving you a 100% SLA as there is no single point of failure.
A fix time of 1/2 hour response/4 hour fix SLA is what we work towards on any circuit regardless of whether they have a backup or not. If the timescales are not met then you are entitled to service credits which is worked out via the percentage over which the deadline was missed plus how much you are paying for your circuit.
What Are The Replacement Options?
If you have signed a 3 or 5 year contract and it’s coming up for renewal, you will be glad to hear that prices have dropped dramatically so you will no doubt be able to get a lot more bandwidth for the same price or if you are happy with the speed you have then we will be able to save you a whole lot of money.
Makes sure you get something with a big bearer so you have room to upgrade to higher speeds (should you need to) throughout the term of your new contract. As an example, if you bought a 100Mb connection and wanted to upgrade to say 200Mb, this is not possible but if you bought a 100Mb connection on a 1Gb bearer, you could upgrade to 200, 500, right the way up to the full 1Gb mark basically future proofing your business.
What is the difference between Copper And Fibre?
Copper was designed and used many years ago predominantly for phone lines. Is is still used to this very day but has its limitations. It was originally designed for transmitting only voice calls, not only that but it is dictated by distance with regards its effectiveness for the internet.
With Fibre you can get as much bandwidth as you want going right the way up to the eye watering speeds of 10Gb which is impossible with copper. Upload and download speeds on a fibre connection are synchronous while copper cannot duplicate this.
Security is also better with a fibre line. With a copper line, you can connect “taps” to the line to pick up electronic signals.
Another huge difference is reliability. Copper is ok but fibre is pretty much bulletproof! Copper does have it’s advantages when it comes to cost. As usual, with it being an old technology the cost is a lot less so pro’s and con’s.
Want More? Here Are Some Optional Extras!
Looking For Other Product Information?
Some Of Our Proud Customers
