When talking about hosting, connectivity is the key. It is crucial for the comfortable experience of your users who can as well as for the eventual Search Engine Optimization. Good connectivity is generally provided by a good hosting provider housing their servers in professionally certified data centers. Thus, purchasing something like this dedicated server UK will provide you with exceptionally a great connectivity straightway.
However, there are more subtle aspects that you might be willing also to be able to set up, especially if you have a large website for which speed, performance, and uptime are vital. Today we want to focus on the difference between traditional broadband and a leased line and why you might want to switch from the former to the latter. Let’s dive in.
Traditional Broadband VS. a Leased Line
Traditional broadband
Traditional broadband is a type of internet connection that provides access to the internet over a shared network infrastructure, commonly using one of the following transmission mediums:
- DLS (Digital Subscriber Line): In this case, existing telephone lines are used to deliver internet connectivity. This approach, on the one hand, is good for its availability, but on the other hand, the speed and reliability can fluctuate depending on the distance from the provider’s infrastructure.
- Cable broadband: Coaxial cables are those cables that deliver cable TV, and they are also often used to provide internet connectivity in the case of traditional broadband.. These do offer higher speeds than DSL, but the connection is nevertheless shared and speed may fluctuate depending on the network congestion.
- Fibre optic broadband: Fiber optic broadband is another transmission medium that is commonly used in traditional broadband. Now, the speeds are much faster than the ones provided by previous approaches. It is much more reliable but may not be available for all locations.
- Satellite broadband: Finally, there is satellite broadband that uses satellite technology for providing internet access. This type might offer higher latency and slower connection but can be accessible in isolated areas.
Main Characteristics of Traditional Broadband
Shared connection: As mentioned, the main characteristic of traditional broadband is that connection is shared among multiple users in the same area. Due to this feature, the internet speeds may vary depending on the level of the internet congestion, which in turn depends on various factors that you cannot determine.
Asymmetrical speeds: In most cases, traditional broadband connections feature asymmetrical speeds, that is, higher download and lower upload speeds.
Contended services: The bandwidth is contended, meaning that all the users share the same pool of bandwidth, the flip side of which is that the users may experience reduced performance during peak times.
Unreliable reliability: Although the general reliability of broadband is decent, there is no guarantee of the continuous quality of services, with occasional downtimes and slowdowns being not an impossible scenario.
Lower cost: With all its occasional downsides, shared broadband is cheaper, which makes it the preferred choice for the majority of users who don’t have more specific connectivity demands.
Leased line
A leased line, unlike a traditional broadband, is a dedicated internet connection leased from an internet provider. It has a fixed bandwidth. The main clients for this type of connection are large businesses and organizations, for which reliable, high-performance connection with guaranteed bandwidth is vital.
Leased line has the following set of key characteristics:
Transmission medium: In leased lines, fiber optic cables are the primary transmission medium providing a great level of speed and reliability, with satellite connection used only in some very specific cases.
Dedicated connection: As mentioned, the main feature of leased line is that it’s connection is dedicated, so it is not affected by external factors, it’s not subject to congestion and is overall much more reliable.
Symmetrical speeds: Leased lines offer symmetrical upload and download speeds, which is great for enterprises looking for consistent performance, especially for things like video conferencing and cloud services.
Uncontended service: Uncontended connection means that there are no other users sharing connection with you, which ensures consistent performance and speed.
Service level agreements: Leased lines are always accompanied with service level agreements that ensure uptime with minimal latency and rapid response times in case you need technical support.
Low latency and reliable connection: With leased lines, your services will experience very low latency and zero to no downtime.
Higher costs: The quality comes at a cost, so you’ll have to invest significantly more financial resources for leasing a dedicated line.
Traditional Broadband VS. Leased Line: What to Choose?
As you might have seen, the difference between a traditional broadband and a leased line is clear. While traditional broadband is a shared line, coming thus with all the downsides due to the influence of other users you can imagine, this option may still be pretty good, especially when offered and maintained by reputable providers.
A leased line, due to its dedicated nature, offers significantly more reliability, guaranteeing seamless performance and speed. However, considering the high cost of this connection type, the investment in it may be mostly justified only for big business with complex network infrastructure.
We hope that we’ve clarified all aspects you needed to know and wish you good luck in developing the network infrastructure of your business.
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