Will Fractional T1 Solve This Problem

Here's the picture you're looking at:

You have a small business....with less than 10 employees....who are all hooked into a router attached to a DSL modem.

You all need to be logged into an online database through the internet all day. You and your staff access the database to do lots of data entry as well as uploading of files. When all of you are logged in, the upload/download speed frequently is incredibly slow.

When you run DSL speed tests on any of your office machines, it shows around 1.1 mbps in the morning. By mid-afternoon, the speeds are down to 600 kbps on most of the machines. You've even seen them as low as 350 kbps.

Would a Fractional T1 solve this problem? Fractional T1s in your area run around $290/month. You don't believe a standard internet 1.5mbps T1 line is really affordable for you at $399/month. (Dollar figures are just an example for purposes of this article).

Well.....here's your answer:

Reliability, dependability, and fitness for a particular purpose have more to do with the shared nature of the services that you are using than they do with "speed". DSL is a shared resource service. Shared means that many customers are sharing an underlying internet backbone connection....that's why your speeds drop during the day ... more users are watching music videos from home in the afternoon than during the morning, sucking up all the provider's bandwidth. If the "fractional T1" provider will also be sharing their connection to the internet backbone with many of their customers, then you will likely find the same thing at the new carrier, though the busy times would be different.

The provider offering you a "T1" for $399/month is also likely sharing their backbone connection.

Remember that a shared service provider will measure speed from his office to your office, and not guarantee throughput to the internet backbone. If the shared provider has a 45M connection, and he sells 30 customers a 1.5M connection, what happens to the 31st customer? A shared provider will plop him on the same connection. Same thing with the 32nd customer, and the 33rd customer, and that's where speed problems arise.

What you need is a dedicated connection to the internet backbone, where you have your own slice of bandwidth that is not shared with other users. You say you can't afford $399. That's $20/day. That's one hour of a decent employee. What you can't afford is problems with your internet circuit, and shared connections are causing you problems.

However....before changing out the network facility and rushing to more bandwidth, first give the current carrier the chance to troubleshoot what might be broken!

Michael is the owner of FreedomFire Communications....including DS3-Bandwidth.com and Business-VoIP-Solution.com. Michael also authors Broadband Nation where you're always welcome to drop in and catch up on the latest BroadBand news, tips, insights, and ramblings for the masses.

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Broadband - Going Underground, Broadband Through Sewers

You know what it's like, another day, another commute to work, another set of roadworks somewhere along the way. Chances are they're probably working on the telecoms cables beneath the surface.

However, the idea of running a fibre-optic network beneath the surface could soon come into practice.

Fibre-optic cables transmit data using light pulses down glass or plastic fibres - which are not prone to outside interference, and could therefore help deliver ultra-fast broadband across the UK.

Such cabling networks are already being implemented in Japan, but also in some cities - such as Paris - making use of vast sewer systems in order to deliver high-speed broadband connections through fibre-optic cabling to homes and businesses.

With a sewer network of over 360,000 miles existing in the UK, the idea of threading cables through underground pipes in order to help deliver high-speed broadband services may sound far-fetched, but it could soon become a reality.

A networking firm in Wales are currently in talks with several councils about the possibility of laying fibre-optic cables - which could potentially lead to faster broadband services becoming available, whilst eliminating the need to spend time and money digging up the roads.

Universities in Aberdeen, Bournemouth and Bath have been used to trial such methods of cabling on a small scale. However the firm have been negotiating with councils and water boards to try and strike a deal which could see fibre-optic cabling being laid over wider areas.

Cables would lie up to five metres below the surface, and as fibre optic cabling is believed to be less prone to erosion and rust, it could prove to be the next phase in delivering ultra-fast broadband connections across the UK.

With more of us running a speed test on our broadband connection - and becoming increasingly frustrated with the results we get back, could a new system of networking help to speed up the broadband infrastructure and give businesses and gamers alike the bandwidth they've been craving for what seems like years now?

Looking for better broadband? Perform a broadband speed test and compare broadband providers to find a deal that suits you.

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