By Matthew Park, Technical Director
Internet connectivity is how your business reaches the internet: the connection into your building, and the provider’s network it joins at the other end. The type of connection decides how fast you can send and receive data, how often it fails, and how quickly it is put right when it does.
The short version
| Connection | Download, up to | Capacity | Usually suits |
|---|---|---|---|
| FTTP | 1,600 Mbps | Shared | Any office that can get it |
| SoGEA | 80 Mbps | Shared | Offices without full fibre yet |
| SoADSL | 21 Mbps | Shared | Addresses with nothing faster |
| Leased line | 10 Gbps, both ways | Dedicated | Businesses that cannot work through an outage |
| Microwave link | Varies by link | Dedicated | Sites cable cannot reach in time |
| 4G and 5G | Varies with signal | Shared | Backup, new and temporary sites |
| Satellite | Varies by service | Shared | Remote sites nothing else reaches |
The broadband figures are Openreach’s published maximums (Openreach); the leased line figure is the top of what we supply on our own network. What a particular building gets depends on where it is and what has been built near it.
What internet connectivity means for a business
There are two halves to every connection. The first is the access: the fibre, copper or radio link that reaches your building. The second is the network behind it, which carries your traffic to the rest of the internet. Two connections of the same type can behave quite differently because of that second half, so it is worth asking a provider whose network your traffic actually travels over.
Ours travels over our own core network, which we run from Stockton-on-Tees with points of presence in Manchester and London Docklands.
Broadband: FTTP, SoGEA and SoADSL
Most offices connect with broadband, and in the UK business broadband now comes in three forms. FTTP is fibre into the building and is the fastest and most reliable of the three. SoGEA uses fibre to the street cabinet and the existing copper pair for the last few hundred metres. SoADSL is copper all the way and is the fallback where no fibre exists.
None of the three needs a phone line, which matters because Openreach plans to retire the old phone network on 31 January 2027 (PSTN switch-off). Our guide to SoGEA, FTTP and SoADSL explains each one and how to choose between them.
All broadband shares capacity with other users and is repaired on a best-effort basis. For most offices that is fine.
Leased lines
A leased line is a fibre connection reserved for your business alone. The bandwidth is the same in both directions and does not slow down when your neighbours are busy, and the contract includes a fix time if it fails. We supply leased lines at up to 10 Gbps on our own network.
It costs more than broadband, so it makes sense when an outage would stop the business, or when your team sends as much data as it receives: cloud backups, video calls all day, large files to clients. Our article on when a leased line pays for itself works through the decision.
Ethernet and microwave links
Ethernet circuits join one of your sites to another, or to the internet, over dedicated fibre. Where cable cannot reach, or would take months to lay, a point-to-point microwave link does the same job by radio between two dishes. The dishes need a clear line of sight to each other. We supply ethernet circuits and microwave links, the microwave links from our own microwave network.
4G and 5G
Mobile data is the quickest connection to put in, because nothing has to be dug. A 5G router can run a new or temporary site while a fixed line is ordered, and a 4G or 5G backup router takes over automatically when the main line fails. Speeds depend on the signal at your building, which walls and windows can weaken.
Our 4G and 5G data page covers what we supply, and our guide to mobile backup explains how a backup works when a line goes down.
Satellite
Satellite is for places that no cable or mobile signal reaches, such as remote rural sites. The dish needs a clear view of the sky, and heavy rain or snow can interrupt the service. For most business premises in the North East, a fixed line or 5G is the better choice.
More than one site
If you run several offices, the question is also how they reach each other. A private WAN joins every site on one network kept off the public internet, with priority for phone calls and the applications that matter most. Our page on connecting multiple sites sets out the options.
Inside the building
The connection stops at your router. From there, data reaches each desk over your own cabling and Wi-Fi, and a slow or patchy office network can make a fast line feel slow. If people complain about the internet in one part of the building and not another, look at the office network before the line.
How to choose
- Start with your address, because availability changes street by street. Our broadband checker shows what your building can get.
- Work out what an outage would cost. If a day without internet would stop the business, add a 4G or 5G backup, or move to a leased line.
- Look at upload as well as download. Everything your team sends out depends on upload speed, and FTTP and leased lines are far ahead of the rest there.
- Count your sites. Two or more sites that share systems usually need a private network between them.
How we handle it
We check what your exact address can get, from which carriers, then recommend the one that fits how your business works and what an outage would cost you. We supply and manage the router, carry the connection onto our own network, and look after faults from our service desk in Stockton-on-Tees, where a person answers within three rings.
We connect businesses across the North East, from Hartlepool to Durham. See all our options on the connectivity page, or call us on 01642 661888.