T1 versus Digital Subscriber Lines
At what point should you optimize Internet service performance to a speedier and even more reliable T1 line? When looking at possibly upgrading your existing DSL connection, it is important to take a look at several different factors. Financial damage occurring during the occurrence of connectivity loss and reliability are the largest factors to be considered in the case of both large and small business functions. High-speed Internet is important for many companies to earn business over e-mail, video conferencing, and voice-over-Internet telephone programs. Should an outage arise, your enterprise could be affected at all stages.
Normally, a T1 line will deliver a reliable bi-directional performance of 1.5 Mbps. On the other hand, the bandwidth with which a DSL line can work is entirely based upon the distance away from the DSLAM, that is the physical equipment device located in your subdivision by the telephone company. DSL's highest possible range is 18,000 feet. After that, the twisted pair line's signal is too low to faithfully communicate data.
Customer support is another aspect that is different between a T1 and DSL line. There's a professional support department supporting a T1 line. This trained team assures a 99.99% uptime, 24 hours a day, everyday of the week, because the system is tested continuously. With the first sign associated with an outage, the technicians immediately start to troubleshooting to identify the reason behind the issue and fix it. On the other hand, DSL service demands that you act by calling customer service and then waiting on hold until a customer service representative is free to take your call and help you.
Price is the ultimate distinction between a T1 and DSL line. With respect to the type of plan you possess, the cost of DSL service may well be between $19 and $79 monthly. As lately as a few years ago a T1 line cost was an average of about $1,000 monthly fee. This happened to be outside the budgets of numerous businesses. Since then the price of a T1 connection now ranges from the high $300's to the low $700's per month, which renders it an option that small businesses and even independent professionals will most likely consider. A T1 line is a bit more pricey than DSL, but what is the real expense for your company in case your Internet connection goes down? If your work absolutely demands that your personnel, phone calls, and emails will always be up, it is mandatory that you replace DSL and get a reliable T1 line.