Leased Line Speeds

TomH543

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Hi,

I'm hoping someone can help me s I'm getting conflicting information from my Leased line supplier and IT provider and can't find a definitive answer online!

We have a 100mb leased line

One is saying that we should be able to do 100mb download and 100mb upload at the same time.

The other says although we can do 100mb up and 100mb down, it's only a maximum total 100mb at any one time. So could be 99mb up and 1mb down, or 99 down and 1mb up but can only total 100mb

Can someone let me know who is right please

hopefully I've worded that clearly enough!

Side note - it says to select the question tab if it's a question, but I can't see that anywhere?! Sorry!
 
I can only answer based upon our 2Gb dual fibre leased line at work. Ours is symmetric and will provide 2Gb in both directions at the same time.

We have 130 employees, of which about 70 might be in at any one time. We use substantial amounts of videoconferencing and allow personal devices to be connected to the WiFi, yet we rarely exceed 100Mb down and 20Mb up. The total capacity is therefore quite academic!
 
How is your 'IT supplier' involved in this? If they're providing the equipment between your devices and the connection then both could be connect - the connection is full duplex but the equipment at your end is only half duplex, or vice versa.

I'd certainly expect the line supplier to know what the connection they're providing can do.
 
How is your 'IT supplier' involved in this? If they're providing the equipment between your devices and the connection then both could be connect - the connection is full duplex but the equipment at your end is only half duplex, or vice versa.

I'd certainly expect the line supplier to know what the connection they're providing can do.

The IT supplier have set up replication of data between our 2 sites, but this keeps hitting the bandwidth limit and having issues.

IT supplier are saying they have set up 100s of clients in the same fashion and it's always fine, industry standard is that 100mb means 100mb both ways at the same time

Line provider are saying the line as they've described doesn't exist - 100mb can do that speed in either direction but only totaling a maximum of 100mb

These are the 2 experts I usually turn to for this sort of information so when they're giving conflicting information on something they should definitely know about I'm a bit stuck! As I said above I've tried google but couldn't find anything clear cut.
 
Leased lines are by definition, symmetric and uncontended. They should supply the same bandwidth in both directions. The line is fixed bandwidth - not "up to 100Mb" but 100Mb in both directions, all the time.

I'm assuming you will have 2 leased lines, 1 for each office. 100Mb is normally supplied via a 1Gb or more fibre bearer - so that it can easily be upgraded. Is this configured as true point to point, or are you running via an ISP, so that you can also access the general internet? If the latter, this could be where you are running into problems, or it could be a limitation of the line termination devices, firewalls VPNs etc. We run Fortinet end point protection at all our sites, as we can globally manage and update them. We can also see at a glance what the up and down traffic is, and assure ourselves that we are on the correct tier in terms of bandwidth. We did have 100Mb, but were offered the full 2Gb for a very small extra cost, so we took it. As I said in an earlier post however, we rarely exceed 100Mb.
 
Thanks, do you have anywhere official that states that I can refer them to?

I found found a statements like "upload just as fast as you download" from Virgin and "a leased line is synchronous so you'll get the same transfer speeds in both directions" on leasedline.co.uk but our provider are saying that those statements don't say you get it at the same time and that they're differentiating from broadband where you have different upload and download speeds. Literally everyone else that I speak to disagrees with them but I can't seem to find anything in writing anywhere that specifically and clearly states you get the same speed both ways at the same time!

Yes 2 leased lines with an MPLS set up with part of the bandwidth. It's definitely the line itself and not any other equipment causing the bottle neck though - that's the one thing we're all in agreement on!

We are sorting a line upgrade at the moment but want to make sure we know what we're getting for our money! We're in contract for a while so can upgrade but would be costly to change suppliers - but if we're technically getting 1/2 the speeds it might be worth looking into.
 
I think Virgin are pretty clear in terms of their advertised service. It doesn't say "Total of 100Mb" or "Up to 100Mb", it says 100Mb up and 100Mb down..

I think I would challenge the suppliers and ask what they think symmetric 100Mbs means and to provide evidence that all providers throttle bandwidth to a total cumulative figure.

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I 100% agree with the way you read that - but when I put things like this to them they reply "It says 100mb up and 100mb down, it doesn't say at the same time" They then claim that's industry standard and all leased lines are the same.

I've been through all their T+Cs and looked on a load of other suppliers sites. I can't find anything that words it in a way that's not open to their interpretation. It may even be that they're right and everyone's being deliberately open with the wording - but I've spoken to a few people in the know and they all agree with your interpretation! I'd also expect loads of other people to have the same issues we've had if that was the case but I can't seem to get a definite answer anywhere!

Thank you for taking the time to reply and look into it - I think I'm going to try contacting some other suppliers and ask if they don't mind giving me a bit of free advice!
 
I recall over on piston heads in their computing sub forum reasonably resently there was a thread about leased lines & a line broker got involved, it might be worth trying to google the thread & contact him?

Either to help understand if your provider really is a outlier, if he’s aware of any others that do this or just what options you have come renewal.
 
I recall over on piston heads in their computing sub forum reasonably resently there was a thread about leased lines & a line broker got involved, it might be worth trying to google the thread & contact him?

Either to help understand if your provider really is a outlier, if he’s aware of any others that do this or just what options you have come renewal.
That's great thanks - I'll have a look
 
I'd understand synchronous to mean equal maximum speed in both directions, rather than saying that the throughput was equal to the combination of both.

My knowledge of the leased line market is limited but from what I understand the connection technology, at least at the cheaper, end are essentially the same as normal broadband and you're paying for guaranteed/reserved capacity.

If that's the case I wonder if this is a quick or your connection being provided via G.Fast as it's time-based multiplexing could potentially cause this sort of behaviour. Most other landline technologies like VDSL (FTTC) and G.Pon (FTTP) work differently using frequency based multiplexing and don't behave this way.

G.fast only got rolled out to a couple of percent of the country before being stopped in favour of fibre so it'd explain why people were finding it unusual.
 

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