Business Broadband vs Leased Line: Which Do You Need?

Choosing an internet connection for a business is not simply a question of selecting the fastest advertised speed. The right service depends on how many people use the connection, which applications matter most, how much data is uploaded, and the operational impact of a fault.

What is business broadband?

Business broadband uses an access network available at your premises to provide an internet connection for everyday work. Depending on location and availability, this may include business full fibre or another business broadband service.

It can suit organisations that need reliable access for email, web applications, cloud services, video calls and general office work. Availability, upload performance and service support should all be considered alongside headline download speed.

What is a leased line?

A business leased line is a dedicated connection for one customer location. Exascale leased lines provide symmetrical upload and download speeds and are available from 200Mbps to 10Gbps, subject to location, infrastructure and site requirements.

Dedicated bandwidth can be useful when an organisation regularly transfers large files, hosts services, relies on real-time applications or has many simultaneous users. Installation normally requires more planning than standard broadband, so timescales and site requirements need to be assessed.

Key differences to consider

• Bandwidth: Consider both download and upload requirements, particularly for cloud backups, video conferencing and file transfers.
• Contention: A leased line is dedicated to one customer, whereas broadband is delivered over shared access infrastructure.
• Symmetry: Leased lines provide equal upload and download speeds. Broadband packages may have different upload and download rates.
• Installation: Broadband may be quicker to activate where suitable infrastructure already exists. A leased line can require surveys and additional work.
• Support: Compare fault response, service-level commitments and the support channels included with each option.
• Budget: Dedicated connectivity generally costs more, so the operational value should be considered alongside the monthly price.

Which connection is right for your organisation?

Business broadband may be appropriate for smaller offices or locations with moderate requirements. A leased line may be better suited to organisations that need dedicated bandwidth, symmetrical performance or a service designed around demanding applications.

Some organisations use different services across different sites. A head office or production location might use dedicated connectivity, while smaller branches use business broadband. Read more about connectivity for SMEs and manufacturing connectivity.

Plan around your real requirements

Before choosing, document your locations, user numbers, critical applications, upload needs, expected growth and the impact of an outage. Exascale can assess these requirements and explain the available business connectivity options.