Ethernet reliability
One of the key features of the Ethernet service is reliability. Fibre Ethernet services are inherently more reliable than broadband lines. The fibres are themselves enclosed in strong fibre tubes in the ground, and are not subject to weather, water or radio interference. The service is not trying to squeeze every last bit of speed out of the line like broadband is, and so will reliably stay the same speed over time.
Making sure it works
Obviously, making sure things do not break is the utmost importance.
- We operate multiple routers and equipment at our end to minimise single points of failure.
- We connect to multiple transit providers to minimise the risk of internet connectivity issues.
- We have direct power and backup power on our equipment with dual power feed to minimise risk of power outages.
- We have spares for equipment on site in the data centre.
All of this should make a failure very unlikely.
BT's core network has resilient components and is constantly monitored. BT maintain the link between us and you.
If you like we can arrange for dual fibres to your premises to minimise risk of fibre cuts (e.g. because of road works), though this is quite expensive.
If things break
In the unlikely event of a failure, we have 24 hour monitoring on our core network that will alert on-call staff, and data centre staff are available 24 hours a day if we need to do anything to fix a fault. We have an out of hours SMS alert system allowing you to contact on-call staff if you need.
Fixing things quickly.
BT have a service level agreement whereby they will fix any fibre faults promptly (within 5 hours of us reporting it). BT allow us to report faults 24 hours a day. BT take fibre services seriously and fix them quickly.
Compensation
BT have a service level agreement which includes paying us if they do not fix a fault promptly and paying more if they keep failing to fix a fault promptly several times in a month. We will pass on any compensation payments we receive from BT in relation to faults on your service, in full, to you (providing you request them within one month of the incident).
Note: As per our normal terms we limit our liability to the amount paid for the service during the period the service was not working. We provide support during working hours (9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday except bank holidays) and informal support out of these hours. Some staff are on-call out of hours for major outages, and whilst we will usually be able to address any fault outside office hours we do not guarantee it. Our automated monitoring is for identifying major outages - for individual line fault we expect you to report the fault to us. The 5 hour time-scale for fault repair relates to a fibre link fault or core network fault in BT and starts when we report the fault to BT. We must first determine the fault is a BT fault which may involve co-operation from you or your staff and testing at your end first. The SLA from BT only applies for total loss of service faults.
