Advantages and disadvantages of a leased line

The advantages of a leased line

Each advantage below applies to BTnet under BT's terms or help pages:

• Dedicated bandwidth. BT describes BTnet as 100% uncontended and dedicated, so the speed you buy does not dip when other customers are busy. See contended vs uncontended.
• Symmetrical speeds. Upload matches download, which helps calls, video, cloud sync, backups and CCTV. See symmetrical internet speeds.
• A wide speed range. Port speeds run from 2Mbps to 10Gbps, so the line can be sized for a small office or a large campus. See BTnet speeds.
• Room to grow. You can change speed within your bearer with Bandwidth Flex; BT says on 72 hours' notice, with rental changing pro rata.
• Unlimited use. BT says there is no fair usage policy on BTnet.
• Static IP addresses. Static IPv4 addresses come as standard, which helps with VPNs, remote access and allow-listing. See static IP addresses.
• Service levels with credits. BT's SLA includes a 100% availability service level (excluding Wi-Fi), on-time delivery credits and a latency commitment. See the BTnet SLA.
• Built for voice and cloud. BT says it prioritises voice traffic on BTnet and uses Direct Private Peering to Microsoft, Apple, Google and Amazon. See a leased line for VoIP and cloud apps.
• Equipment choices. Take a managed Cisco router, managed Cisco Meraki with BTnet Security, or BTnet wires only with your own firewall.
• Resilience options. Add a second access line for failover, load balancing or back-up.

The disadvantages to plan for

These are not reasons to avoid a leased line, but they are reasons to plan early and read the contract:

• A survey and a longer lead time. A leased line is built for your site. BT's help pages say BTnet installation can take up to 70 working days, depending on the survey. Where BTnet Express is available, BT gives a typical lead time of 35-40 working days, still subject to survey. See lead times.
• Possible extra construction charges. If reaching your building needs more engineering than normal, excess construction charges may apply. Under BT's terms you agree a limit in the order; if the survey finds the work would cost more, BT can re-quote and you decide whether to go ahead.
• Wayleaves. If you rent your premises, your landlord may need to sign a wayleave agreement before work can start, which can add time.
• Site preparation. You provide power, space, access and internal cabling for the equipment. See preparing your site.
• A minimum contract period. BTnet has a Minimum Period of Service set in the order. Ending early carries termination charges under BT's terms: 100% of the rental for the rest of the first 12 months and 50% of the rental for the remaining months after that, plus any unpaid Service Introduction Charges if you end in the first year. See BTnet contract terms.
• Cost. A dedicated line costs more than shared broadband. See what affects the price of BTnet.
• Still a single path. One line, however good, can be cut or fail. If downtime is unacceptable, budget for resilience.
• Moves take planning. Moving premises needs a survey and can start a new minimum period. See moving office with a BTnet leased line.

Advantages and disadvantages side by side

The balance tips towards a leased line when the business depends on its connection every day. See leased line vs broadband for the technology comparison.

Things worth knowing before you order

A few points from BT's terms that are easy to miss:

• Cleanfeed filtering is applied to BTnet internet traffic as standard, using the Internet Watch Foundation's list; you can opt out in writing.
• Card payments. BT's terms say BTnet is not PCI DSS compliant and must not be used to process, store or transmit cardholder data, so card payment security needs its own controls. Ask us how to plan for this.
• Wi-Fi is outside BT's availability service level, and BT does not test wireless. See BTnet Wi-Fi.
• Acceptance tests. You have five Business Days after BT says the service is ready to run your own tests; if you raise nothing, the service is treated as accepted.
• Speed tests typically show 5-10% less than the port speed because of overheads. See leased line speed test.

Our questions to ask before you order checklist covers these and more.

Is a leased line right for you?

A leased line is usually the right call if several of these are true:

• Many people use calls, video and cloud apps at the same time
• Slowdowns or outages cost you money or customers
• You upload a lot: backups, large files, CCTV
• You need static IP addresses
• You plan to grow headcount, sites or systems
• You can plan an installation weeks ahead rather than days

If only one or two apply, good broadband may still be enough. Not sure? Read what is a leased line or use our bandwidth sizing guide.

How we help you weigh it up

Forever Communications is an Authorised Supplier for BT. We help you decide whether BTnet is worth it for your site, then make the drawbacks easier to manage: we check availability early, explain the survey, ECC and wayleave questions before you commit, help you choose a bearer with room to flex, and talk through resilience and contract terms so you know what you are signing up to. Contact us with your postcode and what you use the connection for, or read why buy BTnet from Forever Communications.