Tips on Buying Fractional T1
If a full T1 isn't in your budget, you need to consider a fractional T1 line instead. Why not get all the extra benefits of T1 even if you’re not in a market for a full T1? For many people the largest factor in their decision making is reliability. You must think about it too if reliability is critical to the applications you run over your network connection. If you are now using DSL for your internet connection, you must think about replacing it with fractional T1. DSL is a quick and inexpensive method of acquiring high speed bandwidth in Grayson, however it is not intended to handle mission-critical applications or high volumes of traffic as are T1 connections.
A disadvantage with fractional T1 connections is the cost. Despite the fact that you don’t have a full T1, you wind up paying quite a bit more than you did for your DSL connection. This is because of the fee schedule of T1 pricing. A T1 line is established by installing a "loop" or wire from the user's premises to the CO where the carrier has equipment. Part of the cost of a T1 is the "loop charge" or the monthly rental fee for the cable that is provided by the local phone company. Once the connection reaches the CO it can access the carrier’s network and reach any destination. This loop is paid in full whether you use a fraction of the available bandwidth or the full 1.5Mbps and therefore your cost for a 768Kbps fractional T1 connection will never be fifty percent of the cost of a 1.5mbps full T1 connection.
Although the price decrease is not what you might wish it to be, this may still put a fractional T1 within your budget and be the best way to get dedicated service into your building. Once you have fractional service, migrating to full service is simple. Fractional service typically comes in 256Kbps increments from 256Kbps all the way to a full T1 at 1.5Mbps. Find the service that's right for you, but if you are supporting important services, think about reliability. Reliability becomes critical when customers or employees depend on your connection for immediate responses. If your clients use your connection to access your databases or your server or the Internet, then reliability of your connection is critical. If your employees depend on your connections because you host the e-mail server in house or host web servers or ASP type products, your communication lines can be thought of as critical. A critical connection can be thought of like a lifeline, without which your company would be in trouble.
