Find T1 In Your Area
Finding DS1 service in your area can be quite difficult to do. If you do not know the local providers you would likely start with your local phone company. When searching for a service it is important to know which providers have POP's in your area but for some reason service providers do not like to reveal this information. If a DS1 line is in your near future, take the guesswork out of your search and contact a broker. Brokers are able to contact numerous providers in the time it would take you to have a conversation with one or two providers that may not even offer service in your area. Let your broker know this and he or she will know to point you only in the direction of such companies that offer a service at this price.
Many people believe they can "beat the system" by contacting a broker to get pricing and other information as quickly as possible and will then go straight to the carrier believing they can get better service. This "end-run" process is actually a good way to cut yourself out of some of the biggest advantages of having a broker. Brokers do not mark up the price of services. They offer the same price you would get if you did go direct to the company. The advantage of ordering through a broker is that you will get a second channel of customer service. If the company is not performing to expectation you will always be able to go back to your broker who puts a significant volume through the carrier. A broker is much more likely to get the companies attention and have your problem solved.
A t3 connection is a point-to-point dedicated line that provides 672 64-Kbps voice or data channels or in other words 28 T1 lines. A T3 is used to transmit digital signals at 44.736 megabits per second and has enough bandwidth to transmit full-motion real-time video and very large databases over a busy network. A T3 line would be installed as a major networking channel for a large corporation or university with high volume network traffic.
When you need more capacity, you often have to buy it in the next available increment, which may end up costing more than you want or can afford to spend. Worse yet, with current, "burst" application requirements, the need for additional bandwidth can often be as temporary as it is critical. By providing flexible capacity, or "bandwidth on demand," service providers can help customers deal with variations in traffic, and with avoiding a high fixed monthly payment. True bandwidth-on-demand services should allow for a wide range in capacity.
Although anybody can purchase a burstable T3, this type of connection can be costly. Burstable lines can be found at their lowest cost at a collocation facility. At a collocation facility many users share a large OC3 or OC12 pipe. As a customer you will not have to pay for a the fixed cost of such a large pipe, but will have the benefit of being able to burst up to very high speeds if necessary. If you have a steady volume and are consistent, you may consider keeping services in house and going with a T3 connection. Whether you are considering a collocation facility or a T3 to the door, make sure you use a broker to help guide you through the providers and plans available.
A T1 connection and DSL connection both offer bandwidth at high speed but have two factors that greatly differentiate them from one another. Those factors are price and reliability. A DSL connection has a low price and is less reliable than a T1 connection. A T1 is much more expensive than a DSL connection but is also much more reliable.
