The Secrets of 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 seeking for a complete T1? A significant number of customers consider the biggest factor in their choice is reliability. You should think about it too if reliability is vital to the applications you run over your network connection. If you are currently using DSL for your internet connection, you must think about replacing it with fractional T1. DSL is a quick and cost effective method of acquiring high speed bandwidth in South Royalton, however it is not intended to handle mission-critical applications or high volumes of traffic as are T1 connections.
One disadvantage with fractional T1 connections is the price. Despite the fact that you don’t have a full T1, you will be paying quite a bit more than you did for your DSL connection. This is due to the fee schedule of T1 pricing. A T1 line is established by providing a "loop" or wire from the user's premises to the CO where the service provider has equipment. Part of the cost of a T1 is the "loop charge" or the monthly rental fee for the wire that is rented from the local phone company. Once the line gets to the CO it can access the carrier’s network and communicate with any destination. This loop is charged in full whether you use a fraction of the available capacity or the full 1.5Mbps and therefore your price for a 768Kbps fractional T1 connection will never be half the price of a 1.5mbps full T1 connection.
Although the price decrease is not what you might expect it to be, this may still put a fractional T1 within your budget and be the best way to get dedicated service into your office. Once you have fractional service, upgrading to full service is easy. Fractional service usually comes in 256Kbps increments from 256Kbps up to a full T1 at 1.5Mbps. Find the service that's right for you, but if you are supporting critical services, think about reliability. Reliability becomes significant 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 network is vital. 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 connections can be thought of as critical. An important connection can be viewed much like a lifeline, without which your company would be negatively impacted.
