10Gbps leased line (10Gb BTnet)

What a 10Gbps leased line is

BT offers BTnet at speeds up to 10Gbps for both upload and download. At this level, the service runs on one of two bearers listed in BT's terms:

Everything that makes BTnet useful at lower speeds still applies: the bandwidth is symmetrical and uncontended, static IPv4 addresses are standard, there is no fair usage policy, and BT's SLA covers availability, on-time delivery and latency.

A 10Gbps bearer does not mean you must buy 10Gbps of port speed. BTnet port speeds come in increments based on Ethernet speeds, and you can order a lower speed on a 10Gbps bearer and flex up within it, subject to BT's terms. See Bandwidth Flex.

Who needs 10Gbps

Most businesses do not. A 10Gbps leased line is worth looking at when one site carries a very large amount of traffic, or when a 1Gbps line is already running close to its limit at busy times. Typical cases:

• Large head offices and campuses with many hundreds of people on cloud apps and video at once
• Data-heavy industries: media and video production, engineering and design, research, imaging
• Data centre access for organisations running their own systems in a data centre that serves other sites
• Hub sites for multi-site organisations, where branch traffic and remote access converge
• Large-scale cloud backup or replication that must complete within a tight window
• Venues and campuses with heavy public or student Wi-Fi alongside business traffic

If you are not sure, start with the numbers. Our bandwidth sizing guide explains how to add up peak use, and your current line's usage reports are the clearest evidence of whether 1Gbps is genuinely running out.

Data centre access

When BTnet is delivered into a data centre, BT's terms put the service management boundary at the patch panel in the data centre's co-location room. BT does not connect the co-location room to the data centre's meet-me room.

In practice that means you order a cross-connect from the data centre operator to link BT's patch panel to the rack where your equipment sits. Plan for this early, because the cross-connect is a separate order with its own lead time, and your equipment in the rack must support the interface BT hands over.

Data centre access suits organisations that run applications in a data centre and want dedicated internet capacity there, often alongside BTnet at their offices. See multi-site organisations for how the pieces fit together.

Your network must keep up

At 10Gbps, the line is rarely the bottleneck. Your own network usually is. Before you order, check:

• Firewall throughput with your real security features enabled. Deep inspection can reduce throughput well below a firewall's headline figure, so ask your firewall supplier for figures at the speed you plan to use.
• Switching and cabling between the edge and your users or servers, with ports and cabling rated for the speeds you need
• Servers and storage, which must read and write fast enough to use the bandwidth
• Compatibility: BT's terms ask you to make sure your LAN protocols, applications and equipment are compatible with the service
• Who manages the edge: on BTnet wires only the router or firewall is yours; on a managed router, BT makes its equipment's specification, including throughput, available on request, and a flex beyond that equipment's capacity needs new equipment and a new Minimum Term

BT tests a new service over an Ethernet cable. To check a 10Gbps line yourself you need a test device with a 10Gbps network adapter and a test method that uses several streams. See our leased line speed test guide.

Installation at 10Gbps

Every BTnet installation is subject to survey, and BT's help pages say a new service can take up to 70 working days depending on the survey. Larger bearers can involve more engineering work, so allow for the possibility of:

• A more involved site survey, confirming the route into the building and where BT's equipment goes. See site surveys.
• Excess construction charges, if extra engineering work is needed to reach you. BT's terms make all services and pricing subject to survey, and BT invoices only the excess construction charges actually incurred. See excess construction charges.
• Wayleaves, if the route crosses land or buildings you do not own. See wayleave agreement.
• Site preparation: space, power, trunking and access for BT's engineers. See preparing your site.

BT's schedule lists higher bearer-based charges for a 10Gbps bearer than for smaller ones, and they follow the bearer rather than the port speed you order. Your quote sets out the actual charges for your site.

Resilience for a 10Gbps site

A site that needs 10Gbps usually cannot afford to be offline. BT's resilience options for BTnet are failover to a standby line, load balancing across two lines, and a lower-speed back-up line. For dual-bearer resilient services, BT's terms apply cancellation and Service Introduction Charges per bearer, including the second one.

The key design question is what must keep working if one line fails, and how much bandwidth that needs. A back-up line at a lower speed can be enough for essentials. See resilient BTnet.

Talk to us about 10Gbps

A 10Gbps project benefits from a conversation before a quote. We can help you test the case for 10Gbps against a 1Gbps line or a lower speed on a 10Gbps bearer, work through the data centre or campus details, and set out bearer, plan and resilience options side by side.

We do not publish prices; ask us for a quote. Contact us with the site address and what the connection needs to carry.