Leased line or broadband? Choosing the right connection

What is the difference between broadband and a leased line?

Business broadband and a leased line can both run over fibre, and both connect you to the internet. The difference is who else uses the capacity.

Broadband is shared. Your line joins a network that many other customers use, so the speed you get can vary with demand. Most broadband also uploads more slowly than it downloads, which matters when you send large files, back up to the cloud or run several video calls at once.

A leased line is a private circuit between your premises and your provider’s network. Openreach describes its Ethernet circuits as permanently connected, point to point and uncontended, with no usage limits, and the speed is the same whether you are uploading or downloading.

What are FTTC, SoGEA and full fibre?

These are the three main types of business broadband on the Openreach network.

• FTTC (fibre to the cabinet) runs fibre to the street cabinet and copper from there to your building. Openreach’s figures put the fastest FTTC service at around 80Mbps download and 20Mbps upload, and the speed you actually get depends on your line. Traditional FTTC also relies on an analogue phone line, which is being withdrawn when the PSTN closes on 31 January 2027.
• SoGEA (single order generic Ethernet access) uses the same technology without the analogue phone line. Calls, if you need them, run over the broadband as VoIP. Openreach positions it as the digital line for places where full fibre isn’t available yet.
• FTTP (fibre to the premises), usually called full fibre, runs fibre all the way into the building. Openreach quotes download speeds of up to 1,600Mbps on its customer pages (its wholesale product page says up to 1.8Gbps) and says full fibre has far fewer faults than copper. Upload speeds vary by package, so check them as well as the download figure.

What do contended and uncontended mean?

Contended means shared. A contended connection shares capacity with other customers beyond your building, so speeds can dip when the network is busy. Ofcom’s broadband speeds code asks providers to estimate the speed you’ll get at busy times, which it defines as 12:00 to 14:00 for business services.

Uncontended means the capacity is reserved for you. That is what a leased line provides, and it is why leased lines suit sites where calls, video meetings and cloud systems all compete for the same connection.

Compare	FTTC	SoGEA	Full fibre (FTTP)	Leased line
How it reaches you	Fibre to the street cabinet, copper to the building	As FTTC, without an analogue phone line	Fibre all the way to the building	A dedicated fibre circuit
Shared or dedicated	Shared	Shared	Shared	Dedicated to you
Upload and download	Upload much slower	Upload much slower	Depends on the package	The same both ways
Top speed on Openreach’s network	About 80Mbps down, 20Mbps up	About 80Mbps down, 20Mbps up	Up to 1,600Mbps down	The bandwidth you order
Needs an analogue line	Traditionally, yes	No	No	No
Often suits	Small offices, until the analogue line goes	Small offices moving off analogue lines	Growing offices	Sites where the connection is business-critical

Before you order any broadband, ask for the estimated speed at your address at busy times, and for the upload speed as well as the download.

How do service levels compare?

Standard broadband repair targets are set in working days, not hours.

A leased line usually comes with a service level agreement (SLA) that sets a target time to fix faults, measured in hours, with compensation if the target is missed. Openreach’s wholesale Ethernet contract, for example, sets a target of restoring service within five hours of a fault being reported, and aims to run its repair service 24 hours a day.

The SLA you sign is your provider’s, not Openreach’s, so read it. Check:

• the target fix time, and whether it applies at any hour or only in working hours;
• the availability target, and how it is measured;
• the compensation (often called service credits) if a target is missed;
• the installation lead time, and any excess construction charges if new fibre or ducting is needed.

How do you stay connected if a line fails?

Any connection can fail. Cables get cut and equipment develops faults. The options, from simplest to most thorough:

• A backup connection with automatic failover. A second line, ideally over a different technology or route, with a router or firewall that moves traffic across when the main line drops. A 4G or 5G connection can do this job too.
• A second, separately routed leased line. For sites that can’t go offline, a second circuit that takes a different path into the building. Openreach’s Ethernet contract includes resilience options that aim to provide diversely routed circuits.
• Back-up power. Routers, firewalls and IP phones need mains power, so an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) keeps them running through short power cuts.
• Call rerouting. Hosted phone systems can send calls to another site or to mobiles when a line goes down.

Which should you choose?

Some rules of thumb:

• A small office using cloud apps and hosted VoIP: SoGEA or full fibre, with a backup connection if your phones or card payments depend on it.
• An office with heavy video use, large uploads or many calls at once: a leased line, or full fibre with a backup connection.
• Several sites, or a site that can’t go offline: a leased line with failover, and a second, separately routed circuit where the cost is justified.

How Enhanced Group can help

We supply fibre broadband from leading suppliers and Ethernet leased lines with bandwidth dedicated to your organisation. As part of a managed service we can add backup options with failover, and we design, deploy and manage business Wi-Fi networks.

Sparrow Crane Hire, which provides crane hire 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, moved to a dedicated leased line with a backup failover connection alongside a new VoIP phone system. Leaping Lambs Nursery & Pre School replaced its ISDN lines with SoGEA fibre broadband, and if there is ever an outage its phones reroute automatically to another location or a mobile.

To compare options for your sites, book a consultation or see our connectivity services.