On Tue, Mar 10, 2009 at 10:02 AM, Holstrom, Don <[email protected]> wrote: > Would a T-1 be a better connection than a 768 up by 5 or 6 MB download > or some other such DSL?
Define "better". As others have said, we're talking about a totally different class of service here. A T1 is 1.544 megabit/sec both ways, typically with very good latency. If it does down, or isn't performing up to snuff, you don't pay. DSL will be whatever they can get to you, varying speed and latency, and if it breaks, it's a best effort to fix it, usually without any credit to you. In other words, a T1 will come with a Service Level Agreement that spells everything out, while DSL typically doesn't come with anything. Which is appropriate again depends. Web browsing is almost all incoming. Remote access tends to be mostly outgoing, so the lower upstream may matter. For email, it depends on your users. You may find trouble putting email on a consumer (DSL or cable) feed; lots of systems reject any mail attempts from them. We even got the occasional bounce on our Comcast "Workplace" feed, which has a static IP in a different IP block. We have two feeds for our office. Comcast for web browsing -- it's cheap, disposable, incoming bandwidth. And a local ISP with a symetrical, SLA'ed feed for email and remote access. Since it sounds like you're in a city, check around for a local ISP doing fixed-wireless. They put an antenna on your roof and beam the Internet to you. This will often get you a good feed and good service at a much better price. -- Ben ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~
