Almost every Irish business now runs on the cloud. Microsoft 365, Teams calls, cloud phone systems, online accounting and line-of-business apps all depend on one thing: the internet connection coming into your office. When it slows down, everyone slows down. When it fails, work stops.
There are three main ways to connect a business premises in Ireland today: a leased line, business fibre broadband, and business 5G or fixed wireless. They differ in how the bandwidth reaches you, what the provider actually promises, and how each one behaves when something goes wrong. This guide explains the differences in plain terms so you can choose with confidence.
The short answer
- Leased line: a dedicated, uncontended connection with a service level agreement (SLA). Choose it when downtime directly costs you money, or when many people and systems depend on the link.
- Business fibre broadband: fast fibre to the premises at a lower cost, delivered over a shared network. The right primary connection for most small and medium-sized offices where it is available.
- Business 5G and fixed wireless: quick to deploy with no cabling. Excellent as a backup line, for temporary sites, or where fixed options are limited.
Leased lines: dedicated and guaranteed
A leased line is a private circuit between your premises and your provider’s network. The capacity is reserved for your business alone, so it is uncontended: you are not sharing bandwidth with neighbouring customers, and speeds stay consistent at busy times of day.
Leased lines are symmetrical, meaning upload is as fast as download. That matters more than many businesses expect. Cloud backups, large file uploads, hosted servers, video calls and cloud phone systems all push data out of the office, not just in.
The defining feature is the SLA. A business-grade leased line comes with contractual commitments such as an availability target, a fault-repair time and service credits if the provider misses them. When you compare quotes, read the SLA rather than the headline speed: how quickly will a fault be fixed, at what hours, and what happens if it is not?
The trade-offs are cost and lead time. A leased line costs more each month than broadband, and installation can take longer because the provider may need to survey the route, build new fibre into the building or agree access with the landlord.
Best for: offices where an outage stops revenue, firms with heavy upload needs, larger teams, and multi-site organisations that need a reliable link between locations.
Business fibre broadband: fast and good value
Fibre to the premises (FTTP) brings fibre-optic cable all the way to your building and delivers very high speeds at a fraction of the cost of a leased line. Coverage has grown steadily across Irish cities and towns, and the National Broadband Plan continues to extend fibre into rural areas.
The difference from a leased line is that broadband runs over a shared network. Performance is usually excellent, but it is provided on a “best efforts” basis rather than guaranteed, and many packages are asymmetrical, with upload speeds lower than download. Some providers offer symmetrical business connections; Virgin Media, one of our partners, offers dedicated connections with identical upload and download speeds.
Business broadband packages also differ from home broadband in ways that matter to a company: faster upload options, static IP addresses, business support lines and better fault handling. Check those details, not just the price.
Best for: most SMEs and single-site offices where fibre is available, especially when paired with a backup connection.
Business 5G and fixed wireless
Business 5G uses the mobile network, so there is no cable to install. A suitable router and a business data plan can have a site online very quickly. Speeds can be strong, but they vary with signal strength, network load and the building itself, and latency is less predictable than on a fixed line.
Fixed wireless is different again: a dedicated radio link from a fixed point to your building. It can be a strong option where fibre is slow to arrive, and some providers run their own wireless networks for exactly this purpose.
Best for: automatic failover when the main line drops, pop-up and temporary sites, construction offices and locations where fixed options are limited.
Side-by-side comparison
| Leased line | Business fibre | Business 5G | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bandwidth | Dedicated to you | Shared network | Shared mobile network |
| Upload speed | Same as download | Often lower than download | Variable |
| What is promised | SLA with repair times | Business support, best efforts | Usually no performance guarantee |
| Installation | Longest; may need new fibre | Usually quicker where fibre exists | Days |
| Relative cost | Highest | Moderate | Low to moderate |
| Typical role | Primary for critical sites | Primary for most SMEs | Backup or temporary |
How much bandwidth do you need?
It depends on how many people work on site and what they do. For a typical Irish SME with 10 to 20 staff using Microsoft 365, video conferencing and cloud storage, we recommend at least 100Mbps download and 50Mbps upload. Then adjust for:
- Cloud backups and file sync: large nightly or continuous uploads need upload capacity.
- Cloud phone systems: voice traffic is small but sensitive to jitter and congestion.
- Video: several simultaneous Teams or Zoom meetings add up quickly.
- Growth: plan for the headcount you expect over the contract term, not just today’s.
Plan for failure, not just for speed
Every connection fails eventually, whether through a cable cut by roadworks, an equipment fault or a provider outage. The most reliable setups combine a primary line with a diverse backup: for example business fibre with 5G failover, or a leased line backed by broadband from a different provider. A router that switches over automatically means staff may not even notice.
If you use a cloud phone system, agree in advance where calls should go when the office connection is down, such as mobiles or another site.
What the copper switch-off means for your business
eir’s older copper network is being retired in favour of fibre. Under the framework ComReg set out in 2023, closures happen in phases, exchange by exchange, with at least 18 months’ notice before an exchange closes, and customers who have to move should be offered comparable alternatives. There is no single national switch-off date for every premises.
The practical step is to make an inventory now. Copper often hides in places nobody thinks about: older broadband lines, analogue phone lines, alarm and lift lines, franking machines and card terminals. Knowing what you have lets you move each one on your own timetable rather than under a deadline.
Questions to ask before you sign
- What upload speed is included, not just download?
- Is the connection contended or dedicated?
- What does the SLA promise for fault repair, and during which hours?
- Is a static IP address included?
- How long is the minimum term, and what happens at renewal?
- What backup or failover options does the provider offer?
- Who manages the router and firewall?
Frequently asked questions
Is a leased line worth it for a small business?
If an outage would stop you trading or serving clients, often yes. If your team can work from mobiles for an hour, business fibre with a 5G backup usually gives better value.
Can 5G be our main connection?
It can work where signal is strong and needs are modest, but performance varies. Most businesses are better served using 5G as the backup to a fixed line.
What is contention?
Contention means sharing capacity with other customers on the same part of the network. A leased line is uncontended; broadband is contended, which is why speeds can vary at busy times.
Get help choosing the right connection
Everything IT helps Irish businesses compare business broadband options from partners including Host Ireland, Viatel and Virgin Media. We check availability at your address, recommend the right package for your team and budget, and support the connection after installation. Coverage is available throughout the Republic of Ireland.
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