Reliable, secure network connections have become a business necessity. In many cases, no connection, no productivity – and no revenue. Point-to-point connections services are used by many large corporations to ensure their WAN (wide area network) is up at all times.

Point-to-point connections, sometimes called a point-to-point link, P2P links, private line, or leased line, securely connect two locations using a Layer 2 data connection, building a closed network. Data on these connections doesn’t travel on the public internet, where it could be vulnerable to hackers or cyberattacks. Point-to-point connections are extremely secure, so much so that only limited data encryption may be necessary when using them. However, if an extremely high degree of security is required, think government or finance, some carriers offer encryption with their point-to-point services.