Broadband has been the mainstay product for many a UK business over the past several years who are needing a cost-effective way of communicating whether that be internally or reaching out to other branches.
Broadband costs so little purely because it is using copper technology that has been on the ground since the late 50’s! With all ADSL broadband products, the problems start with speeds. All the speeds you see advertised are all “best efforts” so you will see providers saying things such as “up to 15Mb” when in reality, the only way of achieving this is if the wind is blowing in the right direction!
Maybe a bit extreme I know, but because broadband is a contended service which basically means that you share it with other people within your vicinity, it also means that your speed will jump up and down at different times of the day making it very erratic and very unreliable.
If you’re a business that has customers (lots of) and need to send lots of data to them, a broadband line is going to be a bottleneck in your business. With a faster, more reliable connection, you can double, even triple your output!
Fibre broadband then came along offering speed of 76Mb on average and bringing in the era of superfast speeds. The problem is, if you’re a residential customer or a very small business then this will be OK but remember – This is still a broadband product!
No amount of marketing can sell it for something it is not. It is still broadband but in a Ferrari waistcoat!
A lot of areas in the UK still cannot achieve a fiber connection within 2018 is a real shame because it does eat traditional ADSL for breakfast. It’s also about the same price and offers not just greater download speed but upload speed too. For the price, you’re paying (and if it’s available in your area!) then this is a good option.
On the negative side, it is still a “best effort” product, there is still the fact that the basic routers that are provided are exactly that – basic! And here is the most important factor for any business that needs a constant connection – where is the support?
With this still being marketed as a cheap product but huge speed benefits of traditional ADSL, it ticks the box BUT if the line goes down then it’s a case of “erm – no idea” as again, it is best efforts.
You may be down for 2 hours. You may be down for 2 weeks or even 2 months! Who knows? So what is the answer??? Well, that’s easy! If you have a business where you need a reliable connection 24/7 then the answer is that you need a leased line.
A leased line I hear you say! Don’t they cost a fortune? Well, several years ago they did but not now. Leased line pricing has dropped so much that it is now truly affordable to even the smallest of businesses.
Leased lines are a technology unlike no other. On the negative side they can take up to 75 working days to install, however, once they are in, they are incredible! Let’s start with the speed. The speed is synchronous so in other words, if you buy a 10Mb leased line, you will get 10Mb download speed and 10Mb upload speed.
Also, the speeds that are advertised are the speeds you get so no more slow down! This is due to the fact that leased lines are uncontended. Unlike broadband products which are shared with other peers which in turn slows your speed down at peak times, a leased line is purely yours so no bandwidth hogging from elsewhere!
That’s the speeds sorted so what about support? All leased lines as standard come with a ½ hour response time and a 4-hour fix. I think we can all agree that is better than waiting for the best effort product! Top this off with a fully managed router, 24/7 support 365 days a year and a range of IP addresses, what is not to like?
With prices at an all-time low and comparison websites now appearing, we found a UK company which stood out from the crowd – 2Connect Data Services. With a 5-star rating and a price promise guarantee along with an instant quote tool on their website so no waiting around for a quote, what’s not to like!
If your business needs a reliable internet connection then I think you will agree, a leased line is the way forward.
