Telappliant
Communications Guide · 22 November 2023

DSL, fibre or ethernet: which connection is right?

A practical guide to choosing the right business internet connection.

By the Telappliant team

BroadbandFull fibreBuyer's guide
Comparison of DSL, fibre and ethernet routers on a network rack

The right business internet connection depends on how much you rely on it, how many users you have, and what happens if it goes down for an hour.

The three options in plain English

  • DSL / FTTC - copper to the cabinet, fibre back to the exchange. Cheap, widely available, variable speed.
  • FTTP (full fibre) - fibre to the premises. Fast, symmetric options, still contended.
  • Ethernet (leased line) - dedicated, uncontended fibre with guaranteed speeds and SLAs.

Choosing by business impact

  • Under 10 users, email and web - FTTP is usually enough
  • Cloud phones, video and SaaS all day - FTTP with 4G/5G backup
  • Revenue depends on uptime - ethernet leased line with SLA
  • Multi-site or hosted apps - ethernet with SD-WAN

Next steps

Frequently asked questions

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