Ethernet Leased Line – Leased Lines That Can Plug Straight Into Your LANs

If you're looking to connect two offices together or get a fast dedicated connection to the Internet, an Ethernet Leased Line could be the ideal solution for your business.

Almost all leased lines in the UK make use of Ethernet. And there are several good reasons for this.

If you already know why Ethernet leased lines have become popular, you can skip this article and head straight to our leased line pricing tool.

Ethernet is Familiar

Ethernet isn't just a standard choice for Local Area Networks. It has now become the standard choice for Wide Area Networks too.

It's a technology most network engineers know well, as most of them have set up (or extended) Local Area Networks.

'Ethernet' Connectors are Ubiquitous

Another reason Ethernet is used is that RJ45 connectors - long associated with Ethernet in the LAN - have become almost ubiquitous on computer networking equipment— from basic WIFI routers in homes, through to the expensive networking equipment used in leased line providers' core networks.

The widespread adoption of Ethernet and RJ45 connectors has made it simple for ISPs and their users to mix and match equipment from different manufacturers quickly and easily. It also makes it easy for leased line providers to join  together circuits from a number of different carriers to form a unified network .

An Ethernet leased line uses the same RJ45 connectors that are commonly used in corporate LANs.

Is a Point-to-Point Ethernet Leased Line just a long Ethernet cable?

Clearly not. But it can look like that to your network, if that's what you want.

Your ethernet leased line supplier would set up a 'pseudo-wire' service for you that would appear to your network to be a simple passive connection. There would be no need for Network Address Translation. The hops within your leased line provider's network are hidden from view.

Being a passive connection, no Internet access is added.

Does an Ethernet Leased Line come with Internet connectivity? Sometimes it does.

Some leased line ISPs add the cost of Internet access to all their leased lines. Other providers prefer to only add Internet access if the individual corporate customer wants it.

Adding 2Mb of Internet access to a 2Mb leased line will add around 5-20% to the cost. Adding 100Mb of Internet access to a 100Mb leased line would add around 60-85%. So the cost of Internet access is not a trivial expense to be added 'just in case the customer might want it'.

It's worth remembering that the amount of Internet access you purchase doesn't have to match the full capacity of your leased line. For example, you could buy 50Mbps of Internet access on a 100Mbps ethernet leased line. You could use the rest of the capacity to carry WAN traffic, and phone calls.

Find out how much your Ethernet Leased Line should cost

Visit our ethernet leased line price checker to find out how much your dedicated connection should cost.