Business Internet Services with Dedicated Connections and Shared Connections

Today nearly all businesses are connected to the Internet.

Business Internet services typically fall under two categories: dedicated connections and shared connections. Dedicated connections allocate a specific bandwidth that remains consistent throughout the day. Dedicated connections also frequently offer Service Level Agreements (SLAs) that cover availability commitments, repair times and technical parameters, such as latency and jitter, and provide compensation in the event the commitments are not met. Shared connections, conversely, are similar to residential broadband services that divide bandwidth among a large number of users in order to keep costs low.

Dedicated connections, including Internet T1 lines and Internet T3 lines, provide reliable bandwidth and a significant amount of uptime (most provider SLAs aim for 99.9% or higher availability). They support multiple users accessing Virtual Private Networks, Web and email servers. As Internet connections, they have one termination at your location and the other at your Internet service provider’s location. In addition to connecting to the Internet, dedicated connections are also used for private line services.

Shared bandwidth services, such as Cable, DSL, and wireless, provide a varying amount of bandwidth depending upon the number of users online at any given time. Providers typically sell shared bandwidth services as speeds “up to” a certain number of Mbps. As a result, you might get the full advertised speed, or it could be a tiny fraction of that.

Generally speaking, the preferred business Internet service is the Internet T1 line, because of its reliability and steady, symmetrical bandwidth. Symmetrical bandwidth means that the upload and download speeds are the same; in the case of an Internet T1 line, you would receive 1.5Mb for both downloading and uploading. Competitive SLAs are also another huge selling point for T1 lines, and the reason many businesses choose them over shared connections. In addition to the previously mentioned attributes, Internet T1 lines are virtually ubiquitous due to the fact that each line is provisioned over one or more pair of twisted copper wire – which is available in almost all business locations.

However, there is a drawback to choosing an Internet T1 line over a shared connection service: price. An Internet T1 line will almost always cost more than cable or DSL service. That being said, most businesses find that the reliability, speed, and SLA that T-line service offers well outweigh the cost savings of alternative services. To find the ideal Internet service for your business, visit our website today.