If you have an everyday business that is in need to a good internet connection, it is a good idea to look at internet speed and the kind of T1 connection you want.  You should keep in mind that a fractional T1 offers less bandwidth than a full T1 and comes with the same quality and performance guarantees as a full 1.54 Mbps T1 but costs slightly less. How much less bandwidth vs. the cost savings is the question.

There is not very much difference then between full T1 and fractional T1 except for a small difference in internet speed and T1 cost.  Though the price reduction is not what you might expect it to be, this may put a T1 in your budget and be a great way to get dedicated service into your building. Once you have fractional service upgrading to full service is easy.

Between full T1 and fractional T1, there is hardly any difference in price, maybe ten percent to fifteen percent at best. The cost of a Full T1 has come down considerably in recent years. A fractional T1 has a fifty percent bandwidth decrease but only a fifteen percent price decrease. Fractional T3 on the other hand is a very cost effective solution since pricing is based on a portion of a 45 Mbps circuit.

This fortunately has the same amount of overhead, crews, time, and connections. A fractional T is a full T1 capable circuit. Contact your broker or provider and you can increase bandwidth within about ten business days.

You can look into T1 Lines and Fractional Line, you should be able to find the service that's right for you, but if you are supporting critical services think reliability. Reliability becomes critical when customers or employees depend on your connection for immediate responses.

Keep in mind that 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 depend on your connections because you host the e-mail server in house or host web servers or ASP type products, your connections is considered critical.

Remember that a critical connection can be viewed much like a lifeline, without which your business would be negatively impacted.

It is a good idea to look into fractional T1 pricing since every locations cost do vary, the majority of T1 line users opt for the full T1. The price break point vs. speed averages around 768 Mbits, half a T1.  The service provider has two costs associated with your fractional T1.

You should also know that the T1 provider supplies the port, which is the connection between the local loop and the Internet.  The cost of your local loop is exactly the same, regardless if it's a full or fractional T1 because the local phone company always sets the local loop a 1.54 Mbps.

Because there are no cost savings for the T1 provider or the local phone company on a local loop, the end user doesn't get any cost savings on this portion.

Luckily, this can save time and reduce or eliminate install fees in the event you expand your bandwidth in the future. The Full T1 circuit is already in place.  There isn't much of a cost savings between a fractional T1 and a full T1. So we can better understand, let's start by taking a look at the specific costs of delivering a T1 service either Full or Fractional.