All services
02 / DIA
Dedicated internet access
Your own internet circuit, not a shared pipe. Committed throughput, predictable latency and bill credits when the carrier slips, quoted from every provider serving your building.
The short answer
Reviewed September 2026
Dedicated Internet Access (DIA) is an internet connection where the bandwidth you buy is reserved for you around the clock, with symmetrical upload and download speeds and a service-level agreement covering uptime, latency and packet loss. It is delivered over fiber, and in some markets over coax or fixed wireless, and priced per committed megabit.
Typical speeds
50 Mbps – 100 Gbps, symmetrical
Typical monthly cost
$600 – $1,300 for 1 Gbps in most metros
Install interval
2–6 weeks on-net · 30–90 days off-net
SLA
99.9–100% uptime, latency, jitter and packet-loss targets
What it is
DIA is defined by the contract, not the cable. The carrier commits a fixed amount of bandwidth to your site, guarantees symmetrical speeds, and signs an SLA with measurable targets and credits. Most DIA is fiber-delivered; Comcast and Spectrum also sell DIA over hybrid fiber-coax at lower speeds, and licensed fixed wireless can deliver DIA-class service where fiber is not available.
When it is the right choice
Sites with cloud phones, video, remote workers hitting on-site systems, or any application where upload speed and consistency matter as much as download. If the office grinds to a halt when the internet slows, you are a DIA customer.
Business broadband vs dedicated internet
| Compared | Business broadband | Dedicated internet |
|---|---|---|
| Bandwidth | Shared, “up to” speeds | Reserved for your site |
| Upload | A fraction of download | Equal to download |
| SLA | Usually none | Uptime, latency, jitter and packet loss, with credits |
| Static IPs and BGP | Static IPs extra, BGP rarely offered | Static IPs included, BGP available |
| 1 Gbps monthly | About $150 to $200 advertised | $600 to $1,300 on a 36-month term |
| Install | Days to a few weeks | 2 to 6 weeks on-net, 30 to 90 days off-net |
Carriers we quote
Comcast Business, Spectrum Business, Verizon, AT&T and ACC Business, Cogent, Lumen, Cox, Optimum, Lightpath, Frontier, Granite, LOGIX, VinaKom, Zayo and the regional providers at your address.
See all carriers
Typical pricing
What dedicated internet usually costs
Dedicated internet access typically runs $350–$650 a month for 100 Mbps, $600–$1,300 for 1 Gbps and $1,200–$2,900 for 10 Gbps on a 36-month term, with market averages near $500, $900 and $2,000. On-net carriers land toward the low end; an off-net build adds roughly 20 percent to the monthly rate or shows up as a one-time construction charge. Prices have been falling 5–10 percent a year, so a rate quoted two years ago is not a benchmark.
| Tier | Typical monthly | Market average |
|---|---|---|
| 100 Mbps | $350 – $650 | ≈ $500 |
| 1 Gbps | $600 – $1,300 | ≈ $900 |
| 10 Gbps | $1,200 – $2,900 | ≈ $2,000 |
Industry benchmark ranges for US quotes on 36-month terms, 2025–2026. Reviewed September 2026. Your address, term and whether a carrier is already in the building move the number, and that is exactly what we quote.
Learn the lingo
Dedicated Internet terms, explained plainly.
The words carriers use in quotes and contracts, and what they mean for your bill. Ask us anything we missed.
What is the difference between DIA and broadband?
Broadband (cable, business fiber, DSL) is shared and best-effort: speeds are “up to,” upload is usually slower than download, and there is no meaningful SLA. DIA reserves bandwidth for you, is symmetrical, and carries contractual uptime and performance targets. Broadband is cheaper per megabit; DIA is predictable.
What does symmetrical mean?
Upload and download speeds are equal: a 1 Gbps symmetrical circuit sends and receives at 1 Gbps. Consumer and business broadband is typically asymmetrical, with upload at a fraction of download, which hurts video calls, cloud backups and hosted applications.
What is a CIR?
Committed Information Rate: the bandwidth the carrier guarantees at all times. On DIA the CIR equals the port speed you buy. Some circuits also offer burstable billing, where you pay for a lower committed rate and can exceed it, billed on 95th-percentile usage.
What is a static IP and why do I need one?
A fixed public IP address that does not change, needed for hosting servers, VPNs, remote access and some SaaS integrations. DIA usually includes a small block of static IPs; additional addresses cost a few dollars each per month.
What is BGP?
Border Gateway Protocol: the routing protocol that lets you announce your own IP addresses over two circuits from different carriers so traffic fails over automatically. If you want true carrier redundancy without changing IP addresses, ask for BGP on both circuits.
What is latency, jitter and packet loss?
Latency is the round-trip delay in milliseconds; jitter is the variation in that delay; packet loss is the share of data that never arrives. Voice and video are sensitive to all three, which is why DIA SLAs specify them, typically under 45 ms latency, under 2 ms jitter and under 0.1% loss within the carrier’s network.
Can I get DIA over cable?
Yes. Comcast Business and Spectrum Business sell dedicated internet over hybrid fiber-coax at speeds up to a few hundred megabits, with an SLA. It costs less than fiber DIA and installs faster where coax already reaches the building, and it makes a strong diverse backup path behind a fiber circuit.