T1 - Is It Best for You?
Is now the time to upgrade with a T1 in Roanoke? There are several factors to consider when analyzing your current DSL connection as well as the eventuality of upgrading it. For the majority of people, the most important aspect is reliability and if dependability is critical to the applications you execute on your network, you should seriously look into replacing your DSL link with a T1. DSL is a swift and cost effective means of attaining high speed bandwidth, however it is not meant to carry commercial use or huge numbers of users that a T1 internet connection can handle.
Reliability becomes crucial when customers or employees depend on your connection for immediate responses. If your customers use your connection to access your databases or your server or the internet, then reliability of your connection is critical. If your employees rely on your connections because you host the e-mail server in house or host web servers, your connections is considered critical. A critical connection can be viewed much like a life line, without which your business would be negatively impacted. Your monthly savings of having a sub-par connections will not make up for the loss in productivity of your employees or loss of customers when your DSL connections gets bogged down or cut off. To reiterate, crucial connections should be supported with a T1 internet service.
Many customers are extremely price sensitive and cannot afford the cost of a T1 line which can be as much as 20 times more expensive than a DSL connection. Residential customers who are most conscious to price should not consider a T1 circuit unless they have a business reason to pay for such a circuit and cannot access DSL service. Most people don't realize that a DSL connection can be just as fast as a T1 at 1.5Mbps. The drawback of DSL is that it is oversubscribed. This means there is a finite amount of bandwidth available and a customer's speed can decline if other customers in the neighborhood decide to use their service. SDSL (Synchronous DSL) is a business class DSL and is ranked as a higher priority than residential DSL or ADSL (Asynchronous DSL). This means it is not oversubscribed to the extent than ADSL and is subject to fewer bandwidth restrictions. In short, if price is your critical factor, go with DSL. If reliability is the critical factor, purchase a dedicated T1 and don't be afraid of the T1 line cost.
