Fiber Has Arrived
Fiber optic internet services provide the fastest communications medium available today. Depending on the flavor of fiber available to your location, you can choose between asymmetrical and symmetrical options depending on your specific business need. Fiber typical includes SLA’s (Service Level Assurance) that match or exceed T1’s, so you are not giving up reliability for speed. The downside to fiber is it is not readily available everywhere and could require build out which may or may not be your responsibility. Sample speeds: 5Mb, 10Mb, 20Mb, 30Mb, 50Mb, 75Mb, 100Mb, 250Mb, 500Mb, 1Gb
T1 / NxT1 Lines
T1/NxT1 is the most commonly used connectivity service in the United States. Unlike DSL, T1’s are not not distance sensitive and are dedicated circuits, so they are delivered with high availability SLA’s and guaranteed symmetrical speeds. T1’s start at 1.54Mb, but can be bonded for speeds up to 12Mb. By todays standards, T1’s are not the most cost effective service, especially if you are in a major metro, but if you have mission critical applications that have minimal bandwidth requirements, T1’s are still the safe bet and a reliable choice. Sample Speeds: 1.5Mb, 3Mb, 4.5Mb, 6Mb, 7.5Mb, 9Mb, 10.5M, 12Mb.
DSL- Digital Subscriber Line
DSL is a technology that delivers high speed internet to both residential and small business customers. Traditionally, DSL was delivered over existing copper lines, but in recent years the service has evolved with some carriers offering fiber based DSL products. xDSL refers to variations of DSL such as DDSL, ADSL, HDSL, RADSL, and others. DSL is typically a distance sensitive product and is delivered as an asymmetrical service. Most companies with mission critical applications shy away from DSL based products due to the limited SLA’s (service level assurances) available with the product. – Sample Speeds: 1.5Mb x 384k, 3Mb x 384k, 6Mb x 384k, 6Mb x 768k, 6Mb x 1Mb, 8Mb x 1Mb, 10Mb x 1Mb, 12Mb x 1Mb, 18Mb x 3Mb, 24Mb x 3Mb.
Coax / Cable
Coax/Cable – Cable service availability has been growing at the fastest rate in the telecom industry (this includes cable-fiber) and is known for providing speeds 10x faster than DSL. The difference between DSL and Cable is that while DSL is typically delivered on a dedicated line for businesses, cable services are a shared network which means that if you have a 100Mb x 20Mb cable circuit, you are most likely sharing the bandwidth with your neighbor which can potentially impact your experience. However, the pricing combined with the speeds usually makes this a moot point and a viable service for small businesses. The next generation of cable services are going away from coax and moving to a fiber model which is allowing the cable providers to offer unprecedented speeds and even offering business class services with solid SLA’s. Sample Cable Speeds: 10Mb x 1Mb, 10Mb x 2Mb, 16Mb x 3Mb, 25Mb x 4Mb, 50Mb x 5Mb, 75Mb x 8Mb, 100Mb x 5Mb, 100Mb x 10Mb
