Why Choose BT’s BTnet Leased Line: Key Benefits Explained
With one of the best Service Level Agreement’s (SLA) across all leased line providers, businesses experience high uptime with single circuits or even improved uptime with dual resilient amd diverse circuits.
Why Choose BTnet?
BTnet is typically chosen by SME and large Global Enterprise business because of three main value-add areas:
- The BTnet Service Level Agreement
- Cybersecurity partnerships with Cisco Meraki and Fortinet
- UK, European and BT Global Services IP Backbone
- No 1 rating by Netcraft
- Brand recognition and trust
We’ll discuss the BT Leased Line SLA in more detail within this article but in short, the SLA provides guarantees across uptime, network performance, fix times and delivery.
BT’s partnership with Meraki and Fortinet offer much needed threat protection, virus scanning, Firewall and web filtering. In addition, choosing Meraki means your business is also provided with strong WiFi performance which is easily managed and monitored using the BT provided web portal.
Perhaps one of the overlooked areas when customers consider BTnet is the backbone coverage (I.e. their IP network). The majority of your traffic will remain on the BT backbone which results in better network performance because traffic does not need to traverse multiple hops (or rather, multiple networks). The result is simply better Cloud application performance, especially for Voice or Video and any application which requires fast responses.
Bandwidth Comparison with Broadband
BTnet Leased Lines offers a speed advantage when compared to traditional broadband connections. Although FTTP (Fibre to the Premises) is capable of matching download speeds up to 900Mbps, the upload bandwidth is much lower. With BT Leased Lines, bandwidth is symmetrical so you’ll receive the same upload and download performance.
The maximum upload/download speed achievable on a BTnet circuit depends on the circuit bearer. BTnet offers circuit sizes of up to 10Gbps, which in turn determine the service bandwidth (or port speed) and ultimately the service speed on offer.
Overall, BT’s BTnet Leased Line delivers an improved internet connection experience, with greater bandwidth flexibility and symmetrical upload and download speeds. These features make it an attractive option for businesses looking to upgrade from traditional broadband.
Cost and Pricing
When pricing BTnet, customers need to consider their options as follows:
- The BTnet edge device – you can choose from standard Cisco routers, Meraki or Fortnet edge devices with Cybersecurity options.
- Bandwidth – all circuits are now delivered on 1Gbps circuits (10Gbps is available) with the initial tier starting at 100Mbps.
- Resilience and diversity – BTnet can be architected with no single point of failure by using 2 diversely routed Openreach circuits which are designed with complete separation (subject to survey).
For standard pricing examples, The Network Union authorised Partnership of BT is able to provide a 3-year contract term with a bandwidth of 100Mbps using a Cisco 800Mb router, the monthly cost is £325.
Similarly, for a 5-year contract term with a bandwidth of 1Gbps using a Cisco up to 1Gb router, the monthly cost is £495.
In addition to the Cisco routers, BTnet Leased Line also provides options for Cisco Meraki routers. For example, a 3-year contract with 500 Mbps bandwidth using a Cisco Meraki 1Gb router is priced at £535 per month. As a comparison, the same bandwidth and router option for a 5-year contract is priced slightly lower at £470 per month.
It is essential to factor in any potential installation costs when considering the leased line total cost of ownership. These costs may vary depending on whether the site survey results require additional excess construction charges. Openreach currently cover the first £2800 of excess charges.
BTnet Leased Line Failover Options: Protection against unforeseen circuit breaks with a second circuit option
Where maximum uptime is a must have feature, BT offer a number of options to create an architecture which includes no single point of failure.
Failover: This feature activates if the main circuit fails, providing continuous connectivity. Openreach deliver a second circuit that takes over when the primary circuit fails which allows businesses to maintain connectivity in the event of an issue with the primary circuit.
Load Balancing: With this option, both circuits are active and traffic is load balanced evenly across both circuits. If one circuit fails, the other takes the full load, which ensures that businesses can maintain their connectivity without disruption.
BT’s BTnet Leased Line also provides Five Ways to Strengthen Connection for added resilience:
- Backup Equipment: BT sets up two devices for each circuit with two connection points providing redundancy in case one device fails or is accidentally disconnected.
- Diverse Routing: The two circuits enter the building via different routes which offers added protection against potential breaks in the line.
- Exchange Resilience: Circuits originate in different exchanges to protect against rare exchange failures that could affect connectivity.
- Site Diversity: Circuits can be taken into different office buildings sharing a local network, offering added resilience in case a single building experiences an issue.
- Core Networking Routing Diversity: Circuits are kept separate within BT’s core network to ensure optimal resilience and protection.
By offering a range of failover options, BT’s BTnet Leased Line ensures that businesses can maintain a reliable and resilient internet connection even when the primary circuit suffers a couple outage.
BT RO2 (Resilience Option 2), formerly known as RAO2 (Resilient Access Option 2) is BT’s solution for providing BTnet leased line circuit diversity.
Where possible, Openreach will utilise dual building entry points but many structures, especially listed ones, offer only one entry.
Tail circuits, extending from the building to the BT Exchange, benefit from the use of dual Exchanges for enhanced resilience. However, shared cable ducts can pose challenges, sometimes necessitating innovative solutions which includes overhead fibre options from OpenReach.
The primary objective of BT RO2 is to eliminate any single point of failure from the customer’s premises to the edge of BT’s network. True 100% uptime cannot be assured without an initial site survey.
Choosing BTnet Leased Line Cybersecurity options
BTnet Leased Line offers enhanced security with their Cisco Meraki.
BTnet Meraki Firewall capability
The BTnet Meraki cloud-based management capabilities enable automation features, real-time monitoring and scheduled updates to ensure company wide security policies are upheld.
The BTnet and Meraki solution provides Layer 7 traffic classification and control, analysing network traffic through advanced fingerprinting and categorising each flow for enforcement based on access control policies. BTnet with Meraki firewalls includes both wired and wireless firewalls and renowned for exceptional security features and capabilities.
BTnet Meraki firewalls are 100% cloud-managed with Layer 7 application visibility, advanced traffic shaping, identity-based policies, web caching and auto VPN self-configuration. Technical specifications include a stateful firewall throughput ranging from 250Mbps to 6Gbps VPN throughput suitable for a wide range of clients and advanced security throughput up to 4Gbps.
The Meraki MX series also supports dual-band channels, 1G/10G fiber and copper interfaces with geo-based IP firewalls. BTnet customers are able to buy BT SD WAN which enables the Meraki MX to manage multiple hub locations with distributed branches and campuses, allowing for cloud security management from a singular location.
The zero-touch management feature ensures that all Meraki firewall models can be remotely installed, configured and managed which reduces the need for physical interventions to further protect against security risks.
