A leased line is a dedicated, fixed-bandwidth, symmetric data connection. We will move onto what that means in a moment. A leased line is used to link two locations together from point A to point B. The first location is typically an office. The second location is typically another office, a data centre that’s connected to the Internet or a data centre that’s connected to the company’s existing Wide Area Network.
What is a Leased Line Used For?
Businesses use leased lines for multiple reasons. These reasons include:
- A strong connection to the internet
- To link PCs and servers in different offices (locations)
- Perform phone calls which do not get disturbed
- Enable a strong VPN connection for those working away from the office.
Leased Lines are Dedicated
Leased lines are ‘dedicated‘ lines. This means that along the route of your leased line, the bandwidth you need has been reserved solely for your use. So no matter how busy your broadband was or how many calls you were receiving, your internet would easily be able to handle the demand.
We all know what it is like being a home user and the internet slowing down at peak times. But unlike consumer Internet connections, the bandwidth available does not fall at peak times, when other customers of the same ISP try to use their connections at the same time as you. To put it simply, a leased line can handle heavy demand.
Leased Lines are Symmetric
This means users of a leased line can upload data at the same fast speed at which they can can download data. This can be useful if staff need to do any of the following:
- Be able to access their work desktops from home
- The ability to send large files
- Backup data using online services
- Host softwares on a serve in an office
- Maximise VOIP telephone services
Not just an Internet Connection (unless you want it to)
It’s common for companies to buy Internet access at the same time they buy a leased line. However a leased line is not the same thing as an Internet connection.
As an example, a pipe can be used to carry a number of different things (e.g.water, gas, sewage), so in the same instance a leased line can be used to carry a number of different types of data traffic (Internet traffic, phone calls, VPN traffic). There’s no requirement to buy Internet access on a leased line, it can cope with all forms of internet and phone calls.
If you end up getting Internet access along with a leased line, there’s no requirement that you get enough to fill the leased line. For example, you might choose to get 15Mbit/s of Internet access on a 20Mbit/s leased line, which in turn could be provisioned over a 100Mbit/s circuit. You could use 5Mbit/s for WAN traffic and VoIP calls, and there would be 80Mbit/s spare for future usage.
What is a Leased Line Likely to Deliver, Speed-wise?
the most popular connection speeds are 2Mbps, 10Mbps and 100Mbps, even though connections of 10,000 Mbit/s (10 Gigabits per second) are possible if money is no object.
What is a leased line likely to cost you? As a rough rule of thumb, 10Mbps connections cost twice as much as 2Mbps connections. And 100Mbps connections cost twice as much as 10Mbps connections.
Advantages of a Dedicated Connection (compared to ADSL)
- Faster download speeds
- Faster upload speeds
- Internet connections that don’t slow down at peak times
- Heavily improved reliability
- Better support
Disadvantages of a Dedicated Connection (compared to ADSL)
- Cost – Leased line costs have fallen, but leased lines are still much more expensive than ADSL connections.
- Longer Wait – Leased lines may take about three months to install rather than two weeks as standard on ADSL.
- Physical Installation – Installing leased lines is also more complex than installing ADSL, as ADSL can be provided over a pre-existing circuit (your phone line). A leased line will require a new circuit, and is likely to require some construction work to connect your building to the leased line provider’s network.
What Is A Leased Line Likely To Cost Me?
This depends on to main reasons
- The speed of connection you want
- Your location and
- The length of the contract you’re willing to sign. Because of this it often takes leased line providers days to provide you with a quote.
To know more on the leased lines we supply here at ATS Connection contact us now