10MB or 100MB Leased Line: What’s best for My Business?

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Deciding on whether or not your business requires a 100mb leased line is simple. If you find that your business is struggling to operate effectively and efficiently on a day-to-day basis with a standard ADSL/broadband connection, then a dedicated line is often the most suitable solution.

However, choosing your speed is not always as simple. Many providers offer a 2MB leased line, 100MB leased line, and everything in between, but which is best for your business?

Does my business need 100Mb Leased Line?

100Mb leased lineThe most popular leased line we compare for businesses in the UK is 100Mb, when we started doing comparisons back in 2012 it was 10Mb.

The jump up is down to prices getting lower all the time & using more data for most of our office applications. So many of the things we use are now cloud-based which requires a decent connection.

So how much you need will always depend on what you use the internet for & how many people you have using the line.

In a small office with a couple of staff who only use it for e-mails and general browsing 10Mb should be fine. However, if you use VoIP phones, sip trunks, point to point, a cloud-based CRM, or send data-heavy files with 15 staff 10Mb would cause you to struggle.

What speeds other than 100Mb are available?

100Mb connections are not the only speed you can get & you may not need that one for your own business internet connection either. Standard leased lines range from 10Mb-10Gb so we will break down the speeds below & who is likely to need them.

  • 10Mb-90Mb  – Generally used by smaller businesses or sites with standard internet users who require stable and reliable internet access. They may need to increase their bandwidth but not to more than 100Mb. The majority of SME’s will need a 100Mb line or lower.
  • 100Mb – 1Gb  – These are used by companies with more staff or a much more business-critical reason for high bandwidth use. Graphic designers are a good example of a type of business that is likely to need high upload speeds.
  • 1Gb – 10Gb – These kinds of high speeds are used by the juggernauts of business internet users – companies with lots of staff/offices using a huge amount of data. These are the most expensive leased lines on the market so for anyone to get one they would likely already know they needed it.

There are also 3 main bearer sizes which are simply the pipe that your leased line gets delivered through. These bearers can be 100Mb, 1Gb, or 10Gb. If you decide for now you need 30Mb Leased Line it would be delivered on 100Mb bearer. This means it’s easy to upgrade if your business grew and needed more bandwidth.

However, if you require 100Mb leased line price you can choose to have it on 100Mb bearer or 1Gb bearer. If you know you won’t exceed the 100Mb we recommend 100Mb bearer as it will be more cost-effective.

However, if you know you are likely to be needing to increase your bandwidth over the term of the contract then its worth getting quotes on a 1Gb bearer. They can be very different in price so it’s worth weighing up your options based on your own circumstances.

CDR & bearers of leased lines

Before agreeing to a speed with your provider, another worthwhile thing you can do is learn more about the differences between bearers and the committed data rate, or CDR. This can help ensure you’re choosing the right product for your circumstances.

Quite simply, the bearer is the bandwidth size of the available line, whether that’s a copper line or a fibre-enabled line. If you have a 100MB leased line bearer, for example, that bearer will be able to provide a 100MB leased line connection to the business.

If you have a 10MB bearer, that bearer will be able to provide a maximum 10MB leased line connection, and so on. This is why leased lines are often said to be ‘capped’ – because there are speed limitations dependent upon the bearers.

What is the Committed Data Rate?

The committed data rate on the other hand, or CDR for short, is the connection speed that has been requested by the business. With leased lines, speeds are guaranteed, and symmetrical, which means that if a 100MB leased line is requested, businesses will have 100MB upload and download speeds.

If a 10MB leased line is requested, businesses will have 10MB upload and download speeds. To put it simply, the committed data rate is the speed that your business has agreed to and arranged to pay for.

Why Choose a 100MB Leased Line Bearer?

While selecting a larger bearer can sometimes be more costly, businesses are advised to arrange for a bearer that is capable of delivering faster speeds than are currently required. If a business requires a 10MB leased line, for example, it’s a good idea to opt for a 100MB bearer.

This is because businesses’ needs and requirements change constantly, and while a 10MB leased line may make sense now, it’s important to question how quickly your business will outgrow these speeds.

With a larger bearer, it’s quick and easy to upgrade your bandwidth to the limits of the bearer without the need for new time-consuming and costly installations. It really does pay to think about the future.

Discover more about leased lines, leased line providers, and leased line costs by completing our form on the right-hand side. Our leased lines specialists will be more than happy to help.

How to get the best deal on 100Mb leased line

Getting the best deal doesn’t mean getting a quote for BTNet and hoping for the best. You need to shop around, comparing prices and don’t be afraid to negotiate. We know it’s not the typical British way but providers can often move quite significantly on price so it’s worth trying.

You can also get help with installation costs with the government gigabit voucher scheme, if applicable & available.

Another factor that can impact pricing is your other products and services. We have compared a few deals where businesses end up getting the leased line for free because they bring their phone systems, cloud services etc to the provider and use the economy of scale to get the best deal across all services.