T1 Line Service Provider Internet Access Solutions for Small and Medium Size Businesses

If you are a manager of a small or medium sized business you will understand the need to ensure reliable and cost-effective communications. With T1 line internet access you can choose a technology which allows your staff to make effective use of the internet. Effective communications are important, whether with vendors or with customer, or amongst teams of co-workers. T1 access speeds greatly exceed those of dial up connections, and T1 connections are symmetric which means that upload and download data rates are the same. This differs from ADSL where upload speeds are much lower than download rates. As determining the best and most appropriate internet connectivity is important for businesses, many choose to take advice from a consultant before picking a T1 provider.

With T1 connection your business can have symmetric, high speed connection to the internet. The data rate of 1.5 Mbits/sec for a single T1 link is thirty times more than for a dial up connection, and the T1 connection is always dedicated.

An always on connection and high download speeds are also available with ADSL technology, but for businesses the asymmetric nature of ADSL can be problematic. The download data rate and the upload data rate of ADSL are not the same. In fact the upload data rate is much lower, and this can allow one user in an organization to degrade the service badly just by sending an email with a large attachment. This problem should not happen with T1 connections since upload and download speeds are both high and symmetrical. A single T1 link has enough bandwidth to allow up to 24 telephone calls at any one time.

Businesses have the option of choosing different service levels from their T1 provider. With an Integrated T1 service the business allocates some number of the available 24 channels to telephony requirements. The remainder are then used for data.

Smaller businesses may find Fractional T1 service, or Burstable T1 service more attuned to their needs. Fractional T1 gives businesses some fraction of the available 24 channels. As a result costs are lower. Burstable T1 allows businesses to increase their bandwidth usage at peak times on a pay as you go basis.

Lastly, larger businesses may choose a Bonded T1 arrangement. Multiple T1 connections allow large bandwidth under this scheme. T1 providers will be quite willing to help businesses choose the best plan for their needs.

Since reliable communications are important T1 providers will enter into a Service Level Agreement (SLA) with their customers. Under such agreements there are penalties applied to the provider if there is more downtime than that allowed by the agreement.

Within the industry there are consultants who specialize in helping firms to identify their requirements, and defining the appropriate SLA with the T1 service provider.