Most of the ISPs we talked with offer POPs nationwide, and some, such as WorldCom, have POPs in most major world cities. To provide service in these locations, the ISPs lease connections from other ISPs and telephone companies. Because line tariff and service fees change so often, most vendors were reluctant to provide us with basic pricing, but a few did. Outsourcing a VPN service ensures that you get a high degree of equipment reliability and security. The VPN service provider should have redundancy in equipment, connections, and people.
Redundancy builds reliability, but redundancy is more practical when it's shared.
Except for McHenryCom, all of the ISPs we talked with own the VPN equipment they install at your locations and monitor it around the clock. They will also replace equipment within hours if a unit fails. And though most ISPs have redundant equipment and own it themselves, be sure to ask whether they do. The VPN provider will have experienced employees, procedures, software, and equipment to deal swiftly with outside attacks. ISPs with hundreds of clients can invest in the expensive firewalls and can afford the staff to set up and maintain them.