Guide
DIA vs Broadband
Same fiber, different contract. The decision is about consequences of downtime, not speed.
Same fiber, different contract. The decision is about consequences of downtime, not speed.
Stop comparing the speed numbers
A gigabit of broadband and a gigabit of DIA advertise the same number. On a quiet network they test the same. Comparing the headline speeds tells you nothing useful.
The real comparison is what happens on a bad day, and what the carrier owes you when it happens.
Side by side
| Business broadband | Dedicated internet | |
|---|---|---|
| Bandwidth | Up to, shared | Guaranteed, yours alone |
| Upload | Often a fraction of download | Matches download |
| SLA | None, or best effort | Uptime, latency, and repair time in writing |
| Outage credits | Rare | Standard |
| Support | General business queue | Network operations center |
| Install | One to three weeks | Three to twelve weeks if a build is needed |
| Relative cost | Baseline | Several times baseline |
A test that actually decides it
Work out what one hour of hard downtime costs the business. Staff standing around, orders not taken, calls not answered.
Multiply by the hours of downtime you would expect in a year on best effort service. Compare that to the annual price difference between the two products.
For a lot of small offices the math says broadband. For anyone taking orders or calls over the connection, it usually says DIA. The number decides, not the sales pitch.
Common questions
Can I mix both at one site?
Yes, and it is often the best value. DIA for the traffic that must not drop, broadband as the failover path, with a firewall that switches automatically.
Do I need DIA for cloud phones?
Not always. You need enough upload and low jitter. A good fiber broadband connection with QoS handles a small office. Call volume and the cost of a dropped call push you toward DIA.