diff --git a/equinix/resource_metal_connection.go b/equinix/resource_metal_connection.go
index 76b4e142c..e3040e5a0 100644
--- a/equinix/resource_metal_connection.go
+++ b/equinix/resource_metal_connection.go
@@ -118,8 +118,9 @@ func resourceMetalConnection() *schema.Resource {
 			},
 			"speed": {
 				Type:        schema.TypeString,
-				Required:    true,
-				Description: fmt.Sprintf("Port speed. Allowed values are %s", strings.Join(speeds, ", ")),
+				Optional:    true,
+				Computed:    true,
+				Description: fmt.Sprintf("Port speed. Required for a_side connections. Allowed values are %s", strings.Join(speeds, ", ")),
 			},
 			"description": {
 				Type:        schema.TypeString,
@@ -214,16 +215,25 @@ func resourceMetalConnectionCreate(d *schema.ResourceData, meta interface{}) err
 	}
 	connRedundancy := packngo.ConnectionRedundancy(d.Get("redundancy").(string))
 
-	speed, err := speedStrToUint(d.Get("speed").(string))
-	if err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-
 	connReq := packngo.ConnectionCreateRequest{
 		Name:       d.Get("name").(string),
 		Redundancy: connRedundancy,
 		Type:       connType,
-		Speed:      speed,
+	}
+
+	speedRaw, speedOk := d.GetOk("speed")
+
+	// missing speed is tolerated only for shared connections of type z_side
+	// https://github.com/equinix/terraform-provider-equinix/issues/276
+	if (connType == packngo.ConnectionDedicated) || (tokenType == "a_side") {
+		if !speedOk {
+			return fmt.Errorf("you must set speed, it's optional only for shared connections of type z_side")
+		}
+		speed, err := speedStrToUint(speedRaw.(string))
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		connReq.Speed = speed
 	}
 
 	// this could be generalized, see $ grep "d.Get(\"tags" *
diff --git a/equinix/resource_metal_connection_acc_test.go b/equinix/resource_metal_connection_acc_test.go
index 19ba98cca..af00b3be5 100644
--- a/equinix/resource_metal_connection_acc_test.go
+++ b/equinix/resource_metal_connection_acc_test.go
@@ -74,6 +74,48 @@ func testAccMetalConnectionConfig_Shared(randstr string) string {
 		randstr, randstr)
 }
 
+func testAccMetalConnectionConfig_Shared_zside(randstr string) string {
+	return fmt.Sprintf(`
+        resource "equinix_metal_project" "test" {
+            name = "tfacc-conn-pro-%s"
+        }
+
+        resource "equinix_metal_connection" "test" {
+            name               = "tfacc-conn-%s"
+            project_id         = equinix_metal_project.test.id
+            type               = "shared"
+            redundancy         = "redundant"
+            metro              = "sv"
+			service_token_type = "z_side"
+        }`,
+		randstr, randstr)
+}
+
+func TestAccMetalConnection_shared_zside(t *testing.T) {
+	rs := acctest.RandString(10)
+	resource.ParallelTest(t, resource.TestCase{
+		PreCheck:          func() { testAccPreCheck(t) },
+		ExternalProviders: testExternalProviders,
+		Providers:         testAccProviders,
+		CheckDestroy:      testAccMetalConnectionCheckDestroyed,
+		Steps: []resource.TestStep{
+			{
+				Config: testAccMetalConnectionConfig_Shared_zside(rs),
+				Check: resource.ComposeTestCheckFunc(
+					resource.TestCheckResourceAttr(
+						"equinix_metal_connection.test", "speed", "10Gbps"),
+					resource.TestCheckResourceAttr(
+						"equinix_metal_connection.test", "service_tokens.0.type", "z_side"),
+					resource.TestCheckResourceAttr(
+						"equinix_metal_connection.test", "service_token_type", "z_side"),
+				),
+			},
+		},
+	})
+
+
+}
+
 func TestAccMetalConnection_shared(t *testing.T) {
 	rs := acctest.RandString(10)