The Internet is essential to the survival of businesses, organisations, academic institutions, and service sectors. However, large businesses increasingly rely on Internet leased lines or ILLs for Internet connectivity instead of broadband services.

An Internet leased line or leased line is a dedicated Internet connection which provides direct connectivity in a network between multiple endpoints. Unlike broadband, it is not shared by numerous third-party users in one location, providing constant connectivity and fixed bandwidth.

What are the advantages or benefits of an Internet leased line over broadband?

Leased line vs broadband offers many advantages for medium and large businesses. 

Let’s take a look at the benefits or advantages of a leased line:

• Symmetrical Speeds

Broadband Internet connections always optimise download speeds at the expense of upload speeds, whereas dedicated internet lines offer symmetrical download and upload speeds increase.

• Maximum Speed ​​

Broadband speeds do not match leased line connection speeds. The leased line connection’s speed an reach upto 10Gbps, on the other hand broadband speed has much lower maximum speed. As per Ookla’s latest speed test global index report, India’s average fixed broadband internet speed is approx 48.59 Mbps as of August 2022, and their was downranking too, from 78 to 79.

• Dedicated Connection

Broadband internet connection is usually shared by multiple users in an area. However, the benefit of an Internet leased line is that a dedicated internet service is not shared by anyone except for the owner or the primary user in a locality. This helps in preventing any network fluctuations, especially during peak hours. 

• Reliability

Internet leased line connection is much more reliable, wen it comes to data speed and stability than the broadband connections. The former allows you to easily control various performance parameters of your Internet connection, such as latency and jitter.

• Service Level Agreement or SLA

Internet Private Line provides her SLA or Service Level Agreement to the customer. The SLA represents the minimum level of performance you can expect from your dedicated internet line. Also, let your customers know the compensation they will receive if they fail to deliver on their promises. Broadband Internet connections, on the other hand, rarely offer such deals to their customers.

• Fibre over Copper

Broadband connections typically use the outdated technology of copper. However, almost all leased lines use fibre optic technology, which makes internet connections faster and more reliable.

• Bandwidth Range

Internet leased lines offer a much longer range than fibre optic broadband for businesses. It starts at just 64 kbps and keeps going higher. This is a great advantage for large companies and corporations with hundreds of employees connecting to the same ILL for various IT activities.

• Fixed IP Address

One of the most significant benefits or advantages of a dedicated internet line over broadband internet service is that it allows businesses and organisations to have their fixed IP address on the Internet. Therefore, ILL is better suited for commercial Internet services.

• Committed Speeds

A leased line connection provides promised speeds. If the plan promises 1 Gbps, the customer gets 1 Gbps. However, broadband internet connections may not provide the speeds they offer.

• Quality of Service (QoS) Compared to

Broadband connections and dedicated internet lines offer a much better quality of service. This makes the experience of integrated services such as voice and video over ILL much smoother and more effective than broadband.

• Virtual Private Network

Employees of a company or organisation that spans multiple branches can have their own virtual private network on their own dedicated Internet line. A virtual private network on ILL is much more efficient than a broadband connection.

• Connecting to Multiple Locations

While broadband Internet connections typically connect one location to an ISP’s network, leased lines can connect multiple locations to create a wide area network. This is useful for companies with multiple offices in different locations.

• Low Latency and Jitter

Compared to broadband Internet, leased lines have much less delay in data transmission (latency) and less variation in that delay (jitter). This makes activities such as video conferencing over private lines much smoother.

• Security

A dedicated internet line is much more secure than a broadband internet connection. Of course, ILL is much safer from abuse and malicious cyberattacks with no third-party users.

• Different physical paths

Broadband service does not allow customers to choose the path of connection. However, the customer may choose another physical path for the leased line connection that acts as a backup.

• Affordable

The Internet leased line has an unlimited use plan, and you can enjoy services such as video conferencing, monitoring, and voice over IP for businesses with the same plan. Broadband Internet continues to drive up costs with additional services and bandwidth usage.

The leased line vs broadband connection comparison will help you select why Internet leased lines are preferred. In case you are not able to still come up with a definite answer, then the next segment will surely help you.

Do you need a dedicated line?

To invest in an Internet leased line, you should ask yourself the following questions:

• Does your company needs high speed internet connectivity?
• Do you need to connect geographically separated or remote offices?
• Will a loss of internet connectivity hurt your business? Is reliable data network is important to your business?

If the answer to any of these above mentioned questions is yes, then it’s worth considering the benefits of leased lines above before taking the plunge.

Should you choose a leased line?

Using the Internet can be very unreliable and unsafe. Still, if your business is not very Internet sensitive, you may be able to get a standard off-the-shelf DSL broadband connection for a fraction of the price. 

However, a leased line is probably your best bet if your business requires a reliable connection backed by a Service Level Agreement (SLA) and you operate in multiple locations.

Now that you have gone through the broadband vs leased line difference, it can help you switch from broadband to leased Internet if you are a broadband user. The broadband connection may be sufficient for the needs of small business ISPs. Medium to large businesses and enterprises usually need a stable and reliable Internet leased line.