THUS’ Symmetrical Digital Subscriber Line (SDSL) is a premier broadband service which provides organisations with many enhanced capabilities when compared to a regular broadband connection. This article will give you an overview of what SDSL is, how it works and what it offers over and above a normal ADSL or leased line service.
SDSL is available in densely populated locations such as major towns and cities in the UK. It takes advantage of capacity that isn’t used in a regular ADSL broadband connection to carry data at the same speed in both directions – downstream and upstream. For normal ADSL broadband downstream speeds provided to customers exceed the upstream speeds, meaning that you can receive data much faster than you can send it. SDSL broadband provides an alternative that means data can be sent and received at the same speed, making it ideal for working with and sharing large files.
Benefits
THUS, through its Demon brand, offers a 1:1 SDSL service, meaning that bandwidth is uncontended and therefore guaranteed at the selected speed, for both downstream and upstream. So, with THUS’ SDSL, you can choose to have a downstream speed of either 1Mbps or 2Mbps and receive the same speed in the upstream direction. As SDSL is a dedicated service, a BT phone line is not required, and there is no channel sharing with voice data as with an ADSL service.
THUS offers both managed and unmanaged SDSL options. The managed SDSL service provides a cost-effective alternative to a leased line service, with 24/7 support and a fully managed router, complete with a Service Level Agreement. The unmanaged SDSL solution still offers high-quality 24/7 technical support and is available with a self-install SDSL router. If guaranteed bandwidth in the downstream direction is not a priority, then THUS, through its Demon brand, offers a 5:1 low-contended service at a lower cost to the 1:1 uncontended service. Both low-contended and uncontended services are available with the option of a managed service and equipment.
| Product | Contention | Download speed |
Upload speed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Demon Premier Broadband SDSL |
5:1 | 1Mbps | 1Mbps |
| 2Mbps | 2Mbps | ||
| 1:1 (dedicated bandwidth) |
1Mbps | 1Mbps | |
| 2Mbps | 2Mbps | ||
| Demon Premier Broadband Managed SDSL |
5:1 | 1Mbps | 1Mbps |
| 2Mbps | 2Mbps | ||
| 1:1 (dedicated bandwidth) |
1Mbps | 1Mbps | |
| 2Mbps | 2Mbps |
Suitability
SDSL is ideally suited to businesses that regularly share and send a large amount of data. For example, a network of offices, or home workers who need to manage large files on a joint basis, or creative design or advertising agencies that regularly use large media files that need to be frequently distributed to clients and other offices. Organisations that host mail, web and data servers could also benefit from using SDSL or those that use net meeting and conferencing facilities, which require the high upload speeds provided by SDSL.
You may be a current leased line customer who requires real-time, simultaneous work to be done between offices on large media files. This could be in the form of collaborative post-production for new media in the advertising field, for instance. You may need to be able to download and upload large data files; have regular video conferences with both clients and other office branches; use net meeting tools, such as whiteboards for collaborative creative thinking exercises; and also have high instances of video streaming. In this case, all of these needs could be met with an uncontended SDSL service rather than a leased line service, but cost far less money.
If you use ADSL, the higher upload capabilities provided by SDSL would allow for large data files to be sent faster than is currently possible from a normal ADSL service. These speeds would also permit a higher quality of conferencing and the uncontended downstream component for a higher quality of video streaming than your existing ADSL service could provide.
Depending on your requirements and location, SDSL can offer an effective alternative to either ADSL or leased lines. Available to organisations in major towns or cities, it can deliver guaranteed, high-speed Internet access and high-upstream bandwidth for a lower cost than a leased line service, and better performance than ADSL.