Leased line vs business broadband: which is right for your business?

What is a leased line?

A leased line, also known as Dedicated Internet Access (DIA), is a private, high-speed connection between your business premises and the internet. It links your local area network (LAN) or wide area network (WAN) directly to the internet via your telecom provider. Unlike shared networks, it guarantees the full bandwidth you pay for, ensuring reliable performance.

What is business broadband?

Business broadband is a high-speed internet connection designed for commercial use. It usually offers better performance, reliability and support than home broadband. But like home broadband, it shares bandwidth with other users, so your speed and bandwidth can vary.

7 differences between a leased line and business broadband

A leased line offers better performance, reliability and service levels than business broadband. Here’s a breakdown of how they compare.

1. Speed

Leased lines offer much higher speeds than broadband, typically ranging from 10Mbps to 10Gbps. In addition, they’re usually synchronous or symmetric connections, meaning they provide identical download and upload speeds. By contrast, broadband is generally asymmetric, with download speeds up to 1Gbps and upload speeds up to 220Mbps, depending on the service.

2. Bandwidth

As a leased line is an uncontended connection exclusively for your business, you don’t share bandwidth with other users, so you’re guaranteed the bandwidth you pay for. However, broadband is a contended line shared with other users, resulting in lower speeds during peak periods.

3. Latency

Since leased lines are uncontended, they have consistently low latency, making them ideal for real-time applications like voice calls, video conferencing and financial transactions. Conversely, broadband’s shared connections are prone to network congestion, resulting in higher and less predictable latency that can disrupt time-sensitive tasks.

4. Reliability

A leased line is inherently reliable and stable because it’s a high capacity fibre optic connection. It’s also backed by strict service level agreements (SLAs), guaranteeing uptime and fault repair times with 24/7 support. In contrast, broadband often relies on less reliable copper cables, with slower response times and fault resolution on a “best endeavours” basis.

5. Installation

As leased lines require a dedicated cable to your business premises, they take longer to install, typically around 30-90 days. On the other hand, business broadband uses existing, shared infrastructure, so it usually takes only 7-14 days to set up.

6. Cost

A leased line requires installing and maintaining a dedicated connection with 24/7 support, so it’s more expensive than broadband. Broadband runs on existing fibre infrastructure with lower levels of performance and support, so it’s a cheaper option.

7. Uses

With guaranteed speeds, low latency and high reliability, leased lines are ideal for organisations needing consistent, high-speed connectivity you can trust. By contrast, business broadband is a cost-effective option for smaller businesses or those that can tolerate fluctuations in network performance.

Here’s a summary of how the two compare:

Leased line vs broadband

Leased line vs broadband: which is right for you?

Choosing the right internet connection for your business depends on your performance needs and budget. If reliability and speed are critical, a leased line could be ideal. But if costs matter more and you don’t mind occasional slowdowns, business broadband may be the better choice.

Consider a leased line if you:

• Need a reliable, low latency, uncontended internet connection
• Have multiple sites or remote teams needing reliable, high capacity connectivity
• Run a data-sensitive business in industries like finance, e-commerce or health care
• Rely on mission-critical cloud applications, video conferencing or large data transfers
• Need 24/7 support and strict SLAs to minimise downtime

On the other hand, business broadband could be enough if you:

• Have a team of fewer than 10 people with moderate internet usage
• Need a cheaper connection for everyday tasks like emails, web browsing and cloud storage
• Use basic cloud applications and can tolerate occasional slowdowns or downtime
• Can manage with shared bandwidth and asymmetric download/upload speeds
• Want a quick installation with minimal costs

However, if cost is your primary concern, consider the hidden impact of network disruptions with business broadband. Are slow speeds reducing productivity, or could outages hurt your bottom line and reputation? If so, investing in a leased line may pay off in the long run.

Leased line services

If you think a leased line could work for you, we can help. At Neos Networks, we deliver high-speed leased lines for organisations of all sizes across the UK. Our Dedicated Internet Access (DIA) services offer:

• Scalable bandwidth from 10Mbps to 10Gbps
• Stringent uptime SLAs with 24/7 technical support
• Flexible last-mile connectivity and resiliency options
• Fully managed DIA option with 5-hour equipment fix
• Instant online quotes through LIVEQUOTE, our online pricing and ordering tool

If you want to explore your options, get in touch. We’ll be happy to make a leased line work for you.