Exploring Leased Lines: Does Your Business Need One?

A leased line provides a business with a?dedicated, private, and super-fast internet and/or phone network?that doesn't need to be shared with any other buildings or organisations. Leased lines are good for businesses that rely heavily on the internet, and don't want to risk outages and slow speeds.

But what else is there to know about leased lines? A lot, it turns out. Read on for our exploration of how leased lines can be used, the different types of lines, their pros and cons, their costs, and more.

What is a leased line?

Also known as dedicated internet access (DIA), a leased line is a?dedicated data connection that runs between one location and another. They're most commonly used to establish a private telecommunications network between business premises in different locations – for example, you would set one up between an office in London and an office in Manchester.

Leased lines have two key characteristics, which differentiate them from other telecommunications services:

1. They're un-contended

This means?your business won't share the data connection with anyone else.

Think of your broadband at home, for example. You share that connection's bandwidth with other local households, meaning your connection speeds can slow down at peak times, when everyone checks Instagram, turns on Netflix, and signs into an online game. In other words, it's a contended network.

With a leased line, the bandwidth is allotted to your business and your business only, meaning your connection won't suffer at peak times.

2. They're symmetric

With a leased line, your?upload and download speeds are exactly the same. Traditional broadband, on the other hand, tends to favour faster download speeds. Symmetric (also known as synchronous) speeds make it easier to send large files, upload to your website, perform data backups, make VoIP calls, host on servers, and more.

What can I use leased lines for?

Leased lines can be used to carry a variety of data services, including?internet and phone services. Nowadays, leased lines are most commonly hailed as a?super fast alternative to?conventional, undedicated broadband setups.

Leased lines have a few different applications:

• Giving your different business sites access to a single, un-contended internet connection
• Linking your computers and servers up as a single network across different sites
• Carrying phone calls between the sites, instead of making calls via the traditional landline (otherwise known as the public switched telephone network – PSTN)
• Providing a private network for your employees to connect to from home

Do you need leased lines for your business? Ask us for more information on which best solution is for you.         

How does a leased line work?

Leased lines are available in three different varieties:?wired,?wireless, or?both.

• Wired leased lines?are delivered by?fibre to the premises (FTTP)?– physical fibre cables which travel underground between your business premises and your ISP's (internet service provider) supply point. Wired leased lines work in the same way as fibre optic broadband: by transmitting data via light pulses along the cables. We won't go into the exact science of this because, let's face it, that's not what you're here to read!
• Wireless leased lines?are delivered by?radio, via?antennae installed on your premises' roofs?by your ISP. Each antenna must be within the line of sight (LOS) of the connection route: in other words, the antennae at your separate sites must be ‘lined up' with one another in order to transmit data via radio signals. It sounds complicated, but this is something your ISP will sort out.
• Leased lines that are both wireless and wired?make use of both antennae?and?fibre cables. The benefit here is that, if an antenna fails for some reason, you can rely on your cables – and vice versa.

Not sure whether you'd prefer wired or wireless? Check whether fibre optic cables have already been laid in your area. If so, establishing a leased line using the cables will normally prove cheaper.

However, if there are no fibre cables available for you to use, setting up a wireless leased line will be much faster and easier, usually taking between 10 and 21 days. In contrast, laying new fibre cables can take 60 to 90 days, and cause disruption to the surrounding area.

The different types of leased line

We've already discussed?wireless leased lines?versus?wired leased lines. But within the category of?wired?leased lines, there are a few different setups to be aware of:

Types of Wired Leased Lines

Full fibre - Using full FTTP (fibre to the premises), this is when fibre optic cables – and?only?fibre optic cables – connect your premises directly to your ISP's supply point. Certainly the most expensive.

Ethernet in the first mile (EFM) - For businesses that don't have a local fibre cabinet, this uses the traditional copper network to connect you to an exchange, and then switches to fibre optic cables from there. A cheaper alternative.

Ethernet over FTTC (EoFTTC) - This uses a mix of fibre and copper cables, but still requires businesses to have a local fibre cabinet – so it's essentially a cheaper alternative to full fibre. The cheapest option.

To understand whether you'd genuinely benefit from the pros of a leased line, it's worth asking yourself a couple of questions:

• How much does your business rely on the internet? Is the majority of your operation internet-based?
• How often do your employees communicate with one another over the internet?
• Do internet connectivity issues cause big problems for you? Can your team still do their jobs without internet? Could you end up losing revenue?

Why do I need a business leased line?

Before deciding whether or not to invest in a leased line for your business, it's important to understand the pros and cons.

Pros

• Consistently super fast download and upload speeds
• No outages or slowdowns at traditional peak times
• Fewer security risks, as the connection isn't shared outside your business
• Leased line providers have SLAs (service level agreements) that commit them to fixing connectivity issues quickly

Cons

• More expensive than traditional data connections
• Complicated installation that can take a long time

To understand whether you'd genuinely benefit from the pros of a leased line, it's worth asking yourself a couple of questions:

• How much does your business rely on the internet? Is the majority of your operation internet-based?
• How often do your employees communicate with one another over the internet?
• Do internet connectivity issues cause big problems for you? Can your team still do their jobs without internet? Could you end up losing revenue?

We hope you enjoyed our Breakdown of Leased Lines and hopefully you can go away with an abundance of Knowledge on if Leased Lines is the preferred option for you.