DSL or T1? Which is Best for You?

When is it time for a business in Brownsville to upgrade to a T1 line? There are several factors to consider when examining your current DSL connection and the possibility of replacing it. For many small businesses the biggest factor is reliability and the financial loss incurred in the event of lost connectivity. Many companies rely heavily on their high-speed Internet to conduct their business with e-mail, video conferencing, and voice-over-Internet telephony applications. An outage could take down all aspects of your business if you find yourself in the same situation.

In a practical sense, a T1 will deliver a bi-directional speed of 1.5 Mbps. A DSL line can deliver up to 3Mbps, but the speed is solely determined by your distance from the DSLAM (the telephone companies physical equipment box in your neighborhood). The maximum range of DSL is 18,000 feet, which is where the signal loss in the copper line is too great to transmit data reliably.

Another difference between a T1 and a DSL line is customer service. A T1 usually comes with a 99.999% update guarantee, which is accomplished by a 24/7 technical support department that monitors the entire network constantly. As soon as there is an outage the techs spring into action to begin diagnosing and rectifying the outage. With DSL service, you are very much on your own - leaving you with the responsibility to call customer service, wait your turn in the hold queue, and hopefully be connected with someone who can help you.

The last difference between a T1 and DSL line is price. DSL service usually runs between $19 and $79 per month, depending on the plan (residential vs. commercial, 512K vs. 3M, etc.) Just 5 years ago, the average price of a T1 line was $1000/month. Now T1 pricing is in the high $400's to low $700's per month, making it a much more attractive option to small businesses and even gamers. All things considered, a $500 T1 line can be considered as a 'productivity insurance' policy, ensuring your employees, your phone calls, and your email always keep working like they should.

We meet thousands of online shoppers each week and all of them tell us the same thing: shopping for an cheap T1 line and determining T1 availability in Brownsville is never easy. You perform a query in Google and you see millions of results, all of which claim to save you money. In reality what your are seeing are sites created by internet marketing entrepreneurs who know little about dedicated service. They create simple HTML forms that capture your information, and then send it to every vendor in the world or some in-house former used-car salesman who will sell you whatever will pay him the biggest bonus. The internet is littered with this clutter, confusing customers like you and leaving a sour taste in your mouth. What started out as a search for competitively priced dedicated services has turned into a farce!

In 2002 my partner, Adam Edwards, and I decided to take the road less traveled. We realized early on that in order to create an online experience that was worthy of your time, we needed to provide information you can use - not your typical "enter your information here and we'll get back to you" elementary page. In order to do this, we invested a full year researching all of the different T1 providers in order to understand their pricing models, many of which were created decades ago. Based on information we extracted from this research, we invested heavily in complex programming that would allow us to calculate loop prices, or the cost that the local phone companies pass on to the dedicated service providers for access to their network. This cost varies by mile, by market, and by geographic region of the country. Once we rolled up our sleeves and performed extensive testing, we called our product 'GeoQuote' and released it to the public on this very web site in 2003. We are currently in the process of patenting this unique technology.

Once we began generating large amounts of volume for our suppliers, we were blessed with special rate plans and promotions that we alone could offer you, our customer. Our T1 rates are especially low in OR, particularly in Brownsville!

Don't be fooled by the copy cats! Since we launched our site four years ago, many have attempted to copy our concept, our business model, and even our domain name! It's amazing how in-style real-time shopping has become, especially considering that the reaction we received by our vendors when we divulged our plans to create GeoQuote. Some of the reactions we received include "that can't be done - it's never been done before" and "that is an interesting business model". Now these same vendors have become believers, and our very best partners.

To date, 645,047 unbiased real-time quotes have been created by online shoppers just like you. Instead of waiting for days to even see pricing, we give it to you in just seconds. Throw in the courtesy phone call that you will receive from one of our certified broadband consultants who can answer your questions, help you design your network, give you the strengths and weaknesses of each of our providers - and you have a winning combination.

In an industry reluctant to change, we are trailblazing ahead. Thousands of lines have been sold in the past year alone, with many more on the way. The way people shop for broadband services will never be the same.

As we go forward, our goal is to continually improve our product offerings. We now offer enterprise products typically employed by larger corporations, namely: MPLS network service, gigabit ethernet, OC3, OC12, OC48, OC192, OC256, and OC768 lines delivered over a fiber optic backbone. Many of our carriers even offer free managed Cisco routers for multi-year contracts. Mostly, our goal is to build a bond with you - our customer - that will last for years to come. Earning your trust is what we do here. Saving you money on discount T1 services is how we keep it.