Question 1

What's the difference between Ethernet and DIA?

Accepted Answer

DIA (Dedicated Internet Access) gives you a routed connection to the public internet with static IPs and BGP if needed. Ethernet is a layer-2 service — a private wire between two or more of your sites, or between your site and a cloud provider, with no public IP routing. Many customers run DIA at the edge for internet breakout and Ethernet between locations for private WAN traffic.

Question 2

Which Ethernet service should I choose?

Accepted Answer

EFM over bonded copper suits lower-bandwidth links where fibre isn't available. EAD (Ethernet Access Direct) over fibre is the most common choice for 100Mbps–10Gbps site-to-site circuits. For 10Gbps+ between data centres we typically use Wavelength services for the lowest latency and jitter. We'll recommend the right product once we know your endpoints and bandwidth target.

Question 3

What's the difference between EPL, EVPL and E-LAN?

Accepted Answer

EPL (Ethernet Private Line) is a dedicated point-to-point circuit between exactly two sites. EVPL (Ethernet Virtual Private Line) shares a bearer but gives you a dedicated committed rate with VLAN isolation — useful when multiple customers or departments share infrastructure. E-LAN is a multipoint service connecting three or more sites on the same broadcast domain, ideal for hub-and-spoke WAN topologies.

Question 4

How long does installation take?

Accepted Answer

Where fibre is already in the building we can typically deliver in 10–20 working days. New fibre installs usually take 45–90 working days depending on civils, wayleaves and the carrier. We manage landlord permissions for managed offices and give you a realistic committed date upfront.

Question 5

Can I extend multiple VLANs over the circuit?

Accepted Answer

Yes. We support 802.1Q tagging as standard and Q-in-Q (S-Tag/C-Tag) on request, so you can trunk multiple VLANs natively between sites without GRE or VXLAN overhead. Your existing switching and firewall policies carry straight across the bearer.

Question 6

Do you offer carrier diversity?

Accepted Answer

Absolutely. For mission-critical links we recommend dual fibre tails from independent carriers, terminating in diverse rooms with separate edge ports. We can configure active/active LACP across both bearers so a single tail failure doesn't drop your WAN.

Question 7

Can Ethernet connect my office to your Cambridge data centre?

Accepted Answer

Yes — this is one of our most popular deployments. We deliver a layer-2 extended LAN from your premises into your colocated rack in our Cambridge Tier III facility. Your servers appear on your office subnet with no NAT and no exposure to the public internet between sites.

Question 8

Do you support jumbo frames?

Accepted Answer

Yes — our Carrier Ethernet bearers support MTUs up to 9100 bytes end-to-end where both handover ports are configured for jumbo frames. We'll confirm MTU alignment during staging and RFC-2544 testing before go-live.

Question 9

Can I change bandwidth without reinstalling fibre?

Accepted Answer

In most cases yes. Once the optical bearer is in place you can increase or decrease your committed information rate (CIR) without a new civils install — subject to the bearer capacity (1Gbps, 10Gbps or 100Gbps). We'll quote the revised profile and schedule a change window.

Question 10

Can Ethernet hand off into AWS, Azure or Google Cloud?

Accepted Answer

Yes — private Ethernet onramps into AWS Direct Connect, Azure ExpressRoute and Google Cloud Interconnect are available over the same bearer infrastructure. See our Public Cloud Connect service, or ask us to design hybrid connectivity alongside your site-to-site Ethernet in one quote.

Question 11

What does the SLA cover?

Accepted Answer

99.99% availability, ≤4-hour mean time to repair, and latency and frame-loss targets within our network. Service credits are issued proactively when an incident breaches the SLA — you don't have to claim them. Real-time bandwidth graphs and NetFlow analytics are available through the customer portal.

Question 12

What support do I get after go-live?

Accepted Answer

24/7/365 access to our Cambridge-based Network Operations Centre — real engineers, not a script. P1/P2 incidents have a one-hour response SLA on Carrier Ethernet services. You'll have one UK number for both the access circuit and the Fast2host network handover.

Carrier-grade Ethernet services

A pure layer-2 wire between your sites

Layer 2 Transparency

Point-to-Point & E-LAN

Guaranteed Performance

End-to-End SLA

Flexible Bearers

VLAN Trunking

Private & Secure

Live Reporting

UK NOC, 24/7/365

Built for organisations that move serious traffic

Site-to-Site WAN

Data Centre Interconnect

Hybrid Cloud Onramp

Carriers & Wholesale

At a glance

A predictable delivery process

Site survey

Order & build

Configure & test

Live & monitored

Request a call back

Need EPL, EVPL or E-LAN between your sites? Talk to our UK Carrier Ethernet team.