EFM | Ethernet | Layer 2
Scalable Dedicated Internet Access...
The 6Communications Ethernet network is a natural extension of the 6Communications Broadband Network. It's designed to meet the requirements of businesses who need larger amounts of guaranteed bandwidth for their operations than Broadband can provide. We interconnect with British Telecom, Vodafone, TalkTalk Business, SSE, COLT and Virgin to maximise the availability of Ethernet circuits to our customers at a competitive price.
Because of our range of interconnects, 6Communications is able to provide EFM and/or Ethernet circuits at almost any location in the UK. We pride ourselves on providing a highly resilient and reliable service to our customers. All circuits from 6Communications additionally benefit from 24/7 support from our Shrewsbury based Technical support team, as well as a range of QoS (quality of service) options to optimise your voice communications. If you're already using our Voice Platform, or are planning to, an Ethernet circuit from 6Communications is the best possible choice to guarantee the availability and reliability of your voice connections.
Ethernet circuits from 6Communications is the best possible choice to guarantee the availability and reliability of your voice connections.
6Communications can also provide a managed dark fibre service with managed optical wavelengths at 10G, 40G and 100G on both the London metro and national routes.
6Communications supplies the following types of Ethernet circuits:
- EFM Ethernet in the First Mile
- MIA Managed Internet Access
- DIA Dedicated Internet Access
- P2P Point-to-Point Circuits
Ethernet is a broad term used to describe Leased Line Services, or Private Circuits. Leased Lines are essentially service contracts that provide guarantee symmetric connectivity speeds between two sites. In most cases, one site will be our Data Network in Telehouse Docklands, London, and the other will be the customer site. Point to point circuits are different from this, as they connect two customer sites, without transiting our Data Network.
Leased Lines are popular as they provide a guaranteed service, in terms of bandwidth availability, symmetric speeds, unlimited data usage, and 100% uptime. These guarantees allow businesses to utilise higher-bandwidth, often business-critical services without worrying about downtime or service levels.
EFM Circuits are our most common circuit type, due to their reasonably low cost, service guarantee, and guaranteed bandwidth range. EFM circuits can be provided as a 2-pair or 4-pair solution, each with a guaranteed bandwidth range. Unfortunately, EFM circuits are generally limited by their bandwidth capability, which is usually 14-20Mb/s.
MIA or DIA circuits are capable of much higher bandwidth availability than EFM circuits. These circuits begin at 10Mb/s over 100Mb/s, where the 10Mb/s relates to the bandwidth being provided (etherflow), and the 100Mb/s relates to the bandwidth that the circuit is capable of being upgraded to (etherway). While these are our lowest speeds, we can provide with etherflows and etherways of up to 1Gb/s.
6Communications is an ISP, which stands for Internet Service Provider. This means we operate our own Broadband infrastructure and IP Address ranges. However, we do not maintain the National Infrastructure used to provision the circuits themselves. Instead, we use the existing infrastructure (through multiple interconnects) managed and maintained by Tier 1 Telecommunications providers.
All broadband circuits are installed by either British Telecom, TalkTalk Business, Virgin, or Vodafone. Once the circuit has been installed, your circuit automatically connects directly to our Broadband network, whereupon we provide the connection for your business to the Internet.
The primary difference between 6Communications Ethernet and Ethernet from other ISPs is that 6Communications Ethernet is specifically designed to optimise connectivity from the 6Communications Voice platform and your site. This, combined with the other benefits of using our Ethernet, make 6Communications Ethernet the best choice for our customers.
Below are just some of the benefits of using our Ethernet Circuits:
- IP-Phones registered on our platform send their data directly to our Voice Network when using one of our Ethernet circuits. This means a shorter distance (less hops) for the data to travel, which ultimately results in a greater quality of service for our customers.
- We provide a variety of QoS levels (1,2, and 4) that you can choose from. Each of these QoS levels will automatically allocate a fixed portion of available bandwidth to VoIP traffic. This means that regardless of any other processes running over the data connection, your Call quality will never suffer.
- We can provide a preconfigured, SIP-Optimised Router to arrive 48 hours before your new circuit goes live, eliminating downtime and saving you hassle.
- Customer faults (either on the Hosted PBX or SIP Trunking service) are generally resolved much faster when the entire solution is supplied by 6Communications, due to increased availability and clarity of information.
What do I need?
6Communications are able to supply every part of an Ethernet Circuit. Generally, this consists of the following:
- Ethernet Circuit or
- EFM Circuit
- SIP-Optimised, fully Managed Mikrotik or Cisco Router
Contact us for a Free Quote...
The first thing to do is check what products are available at your location, and what bandwidth you require. You can do this by contacting the 6Communications sales team who will be able to provide assistance and quickly get you a quote.
Ethernet circuits are generally activated within 45 working days of a successful site survey.