Leased line speeds & Leased Line bearers

What’s the most important aspect of an internet connection? For some its speed,reliability, low latency. It’s something that’s definitely up for debate, but what we do know is that speed is becoming increasingly important. As technology has advanced, clients and consumers have come to expect a certain level of service and communication from the businesses they choose to work with, and this means that having the ability to transfer, recall, and share data efficiently has never been more vital.

Fibre leased lines are the fastest form of connection available in the UK today, but while internet access speed is key, many businesses are still struggling to understand the complete ins and outs of leased line speeds. One essential factor that it’s a good idea to get to grips with is the difference between leased line speeds and leased line bearers and, more importantly, how these can be used to customise your connection.

Leased line speed

Is the speed of data transfer that your business receives. With standard business broadband, the actual received speed is usually a little lower than the speed advertised by the internet service provider due to contention. However, with a fibre leased line, speed is guaranteed. The speed you purchase is your download speed AND upload speed. 

If you are running on a broadband connection , even if its super-fast fibre broadband, your connection speed will drop at peak times. Testing your broadband through a broadband speed test results in a better understanding of how much this fluctuates. We recommend run the speed test through reputable speed checkers at various times in the day over a few days to ensure accurate results. 

Unlike broadband services a leased line will never fluctuate or drop during peak times. Leased line providers garuntee this with their SLA but you can also check the speed of your leased line connection or point to point using a number of online leased line speed tests. 

Leased line bearer speeds

A leased line bearer meaning the pipe that delivers your connection & tells your the maximum bandwidth you could get on the bearer. Bearer speed is the speed of data transfer that the fibre leased line is capable of; it’s maximum speed of transfer. In some cases, the maximum speed transfer of the line may correspond to the received speed, especially if you’ve opted for a very fast service, such as a 10Gb leased line.

Other times, the bearer might be capable of faster transfer than is required. You may have a 50Mb leased line on 100Mb bearer. While you only contracted 50Mb the line itself is capable of delivering 100Mb Leased Line. 

Committed Data Rate (CDR)

The committed data rate or CDR is a term you are likely to hear when discussing leased lines speeds and bearers.

The CDR is simply how much speed has been selected on your particular bearer or connection. So if you had 50Mb leased line on 100Mb bearer your CDR is 50Mb as thats what your using.

Customising Your Leased Line

When you choose to install a leased line, you’ll have many options that let you tailor your service to meet your needs more accurately; one of these options will be the size of the leased line bearer. Some businesses opt for a bearer that matches their upload and download speed requirements, and this is often the most cost-effective way of leased line installation. However, other businesses opt for a bearer that is larger than what they require at the time.It’s a technique known as ‘future proofing’.

You may also have been offered a wires only leased line. These are often cheaper than the more popular managed leased lines. However, you would need to install it & sort your own network out. As the name suggests, the provider doesn’t give you anything really except the wires. The router, set up, network installation, monitoring of the line and fixing any faults would all need to be done by you or your IT team. 

Wires only quotes will save you money on the leased line itself but can end up costing much more when factoring in the expert level wages you would need to pay to have it working and monitored consistently. We always say if you need a wires only quote, the chances are you already know you need that. 

Future Proofing Your Business

When you opt for a leased line bearer larger than what you currently need, you’re giving your business an opportunity to further grow and develop in the future. Imagine that a 20Mb leased line is suitable for your business right now. How do you know what you will need over the next 10 years? 

A larger bearer makes it quick and easy to up your speed to meet your needs, while increasing the size of the bearer at a later date can not only be costly but also time-consuming due to construction work, too. In many cases, opting for a larger bearer can be a very suitable option for many emerging businesses.

If you already have multiple sites or will be growing to have more sites its often worth looking at a WAN or MPLS network which will help you assess your connectivity needs like the circuit speed. Leased line comparison can help you save money on this and standard leased lines due to our leading industry discount and access to providers who all can help you get money off installs with the gigabit voucher scheme.