Broadband
Available all day every day at a fixed price. Companies are now able to contact their customers, each other and use the Internet at speeds previously reserved for companies with big IT budgets.
Pro-Net offer two flavors of broadband, ADSL and SDSL both of which offer a choice of speeds, contention (how many subscribers share the connection) and service levels.
Below is an overview of each technology and links to further information to help make your decision. Generally if a company's Internet usage mainly involves receiving e-mail, surfing the web or downloading files from the Internet ADSL is probably the best option.
However if a company is running services broadcasting to the net, sending out lots of e-mail, looking for a leased line equivalent or needs guaranteed uptime SDSL is the way to go.
ADSL
ADSL (asymmetric digital subscriber line) is a fixed cost, high-speed broadband access method. Common speeds available are between 512Kbps to 2Mbps downstream and 256K upstream. ADSL is a contended service i.e. a number of users share the same bandwidth, business ADSL users may share the connection with up to 20 other companies. ADSL connections come with either POP 3 or SMTP e-mail feeds, some packages include hardware VPN and firewall security.
Note: Subject to survey some locations may be able to get download speeds up to 8Mbps and upload speeds up to 400K. ADSL is not currently available everywhere in the UK all connections are subject to survey and line testing.
SDSL
G.SHDSL or SDSL is an international standard developed by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU). SDSL is presented over the copper network that is already in place throughout the UK, It is widely thought that SDSL will eventually replace fibre circuits to provide the last mile connection. The maximum bit rate for each direction is 2.3 Mbps.
In comparison to other broadband services such as ADSL, cable or satellite, SDSL offers higher bandwidth, symmetrical delivery. SDSL is available with a choice of contentions from 1:1 (none) through to 20:1, Pro-Net offer choices of 1:1, 5:1 and 10:1.making it a more suitable technology for companies who send out large amounts of e-mail, run or regularly update web servers or have branch offices requiring information from the network (uploading). The ability to offer Service Level Guarantees (99.85%) make it a suitable technology for those companies looking for value for money or running mission critical applications.
As with ADSL there are no call charges and the service is available 24 hours a day
SDSL is a purely digital implementation, which means it can be used to provide channelised voice communications (VoIP). As SDSL takes over the whole line customers cannot use their existing analogue phones, we usually suggest installing a new dedicated line.
SDSL is currently only available on selected telephone exchanges in Central London, Birmingham, Manchester and other city centre locations. If this is a service you are interest in and you are not currently served, we plan to roll out the services to other locations by the end of 2003. Our SDSL rollout is not dependent on BT and our target levels are on average only 20 interested companies per exchange.
Note: SDSL services are provided using a number of different upstream providers (usually on a regional basis) and services available will differ per location. SDSL can be bonded to increase bandwidth i.e. 4Mbps, 8Mbps. SDSL is not currently available everywhere in the UK all connections are subject to survey and line testing.
Lead times:
- ADSL: 5-10 working days
- SDSL: 15-25 working days
