Internet connectivity has developed tremendously over the years and is now readily available in both developed and developing countries across the globe. However, users usually encounter considerable slowing down of their broadband internet connections – particularly during peak hours or if you have exceeded the threshold of your provider’s monthly fair usage policy.
This is not acceptable if you’re running a business that requires constant connection with your remote employees, branches, suppliers or customers. Aside from that, sharing bandwidth with residential and commercial broadband users can pose serious reliability and security risks for your enterprise. What your business would need is a dedicated Internet leased line that guarantees consistent speeds for uploads and downloads every day of the month.
Understanding Internet Leased Lines
A leased line is a dedicated connection between a private entity and an internet service provider using a high-performance private circuit such as a dedicated fiber optic connection. The service is usually paid a premium on an annual basis and is governed by a Service-Level Agreement or SLA that guarantees fixed bandwidth and uptimes for the users.
There are two-types of services for leased lines. The first and most common type is used for Internet access and is more commonly referred to as Internet leased lines, dedicated access or private lines. The other type is a private connection between two customer sites at different geographical areas or points and is often referred to as point-to-point private circuits.
Who Should Use Internet Leased Lines?
Businesses that require 24/7 high-speed Internet access should make use of Internet leased line services. Such lines will allow fast upload and download streams that may be required for critical business processes and applications.
Businesses that utilise remote or telecommute employees may need dedicated internet lines to allow access of office based applications and fast transmission of required data. Alternatively, DSL connectivity is often used for remote/home workers as a more cost effective, albeit less reliable solution.
However, where security and resilience is of prime importance, Internet leased lines will in addition give businesses access to real-time bandwidth monitoring statistics.
The Key Features of Internet Leased Lines
The following describes the key features of Internet Leased Lines:
• High / Flexible Speeds and Bandwidth: users can have the option to choose their required bandwidth and connection speeds that would work best for their businesses
• Guaranteed Speeds: unlike traditional broadband that is shared with commercial and residential users, businesses are guaranteed consistent speeds through their dedicated internet connections
• Higher Security: the dedicated line is more secure giving reliable protection and security for mission critical data such as proprietary information and financial data
• Greater Reliability: guaranteed fix times and higher availability
The Advantages and Disadvantages of Internet Leased Lines
• Advantages:
o Private and secure connection
o Direct, symmetrical, and uncontended speeds
o High reliability
o High resiliency and minimal outages
o Wide choice of speeds
o Allows dependable in-house office web hosting
• Disadvantages:
o Expensive to install and maintain
o Not suitable for residential users
o High lead times
o Distance dependent to the nearest PoP
o Bound by contractual agreement between user and ISP
What to Look Out For with Internet Leased Line Services
When looking for a service provider for your internet leased lines, you should first determine what type of service elements would best suit your business needs. Each service provider may have their own sets of service offerings so it would be best to compare SLAs, pricing, type of support, and service offerings between three to five providers.
You can also shortlist your selection of service providers by researching more about a particular company, particularly with regards to their service reliability history, financial stability, responsiveness to questions, and feedback from previous customers.