How Much Does a T1 Line Cost?  The cost of T1 service really depends on location, location, location.  The reason the location is so important is due to the availability of T1 service providers for a given area.  The more T1 providers available, the lower the T1 line cost.  The onramps to the Internet (POP) are all located in cities and metro areas.  The closer you are to a major metro area, the more T1 providers are available, and lower the cost for T1 lines.    As you get into more urban areas, there will also be Fiber Lit Buildings for multiple providers.  This also helps reduce T1 line cost by not having to use the local phone company (ILEC) for the T1 Local Loop access to the site.  Major cities (NFL markets) have the most T1 service providers available, and pricing is the most competitive as well.  Outside these areas T1 costs tend to increase the further you are away from the metro.  Rural areas have fewer providers and higher T1 costs, services to these areas have to originate further away.   Here are some factors to help estimate T1 Line Pricing:

T1 Lines – Rural:  T1 costs in rural areas can vary, but most of the time the cost of a T1 will be between $350-450 a month.  Rural areas are considered any location more than 50 miles from a mid-sized city.   Typically, only a few T1 providers are able to service the area (at a competitive price).

T1 Lines – Small City:  T1 costs in a small city will probably be between $300-400 a month.  A small city would have a few competitive T1 service providers and would have limited telecommunications facilities.

T1 Lines – Mid-Sized City:  T1 line cost in these area will probably be between $250-300 a month.  These areas would have a numerous competitive T1 providers and Internet POPs.

T1 Lines - Major City or Lit Building:  T1 cost here will be the lowest and probably be between $200-250 a month.   These locations will have the most competitive T1 providers and Internet POP’s.

T1 Lines - With or Without Router:  T1 line cost can increase depending on whether you have your own T1 router you can use or not.   Some providers will discount T1 service if you provide your own T1 router.

T1 vs Cable for Business Internet Service, there are a number of pros and cons for each service type.   Cable vs T1 lines have a number of factors which can affect speed, up-time, latency, packet loss, and repair time-frames.   Once you are aware of these issues you can determine the best business Cable or T1 Internet service for your needs and budget.   Here are the issues with T1 vs Cable for business Internet.

Cable vs T1:  Business Class Cable Internet service is a low cost, high bandwidth connection, via a coax cable network (Local Cable Provider).    Business Cable speed varies based on the cable provider in your area and network capabilities.  Typically they are a minimum of 10Mbps download and 1Mbps upload speed.   Cable Internet for business is a “Best Effort” service, meaning they do not offer any guarantees on service performance (aka Service Level Agreement).  Also, the network is shared among many users in your area like a  LAN.  So when you buy a package speed (ie; 10Mbps x 1Mbps), during peak usage times you will only get a fraction of those Cable speeds due to network congestion.   Another issue you encounter with business Cable Internet is higher latency.   This means data takes longer to get from point A to Z, which can lead to delays in connecting and issues with VOIP call quality.   Packet loss is typically higher as well, meaning Cable Internet data packets get dropped and don’t make it to the destination, leading to timeouts and dropped VOIP calls.   

Cable vs T1:  Reliability and repair time-frames are probably the biggest issues for business Cable Internet subscribers.   It is not uncommon for outages to occur 2-3 times a month.  This is because when business Cable Internet providers do maintenance on the network in your area, like a LAN, it affects others users on the network.   Repair timeframes are typically longer to get a tech onsite for an issue, this again is why it is called a “Best Effort” service.    Cable for business Internet service is a low cost solution for higher bandwidth needs, but there are many risks and performance issues to consider.   In most cases, business Cable Internet is not recommended for a larger business without a back-up connection and a seperate voice network connection (VOIP, PRI T1).

T1 vs Cable:  T1 Internet service is a higher cost, but a dedicated connection over traditional telecom networks (local phone company,  CLEC’s, ISP’s, backbone networks).  T1 speeds are fixed and do not vary based on location or provider, they are always 1.54Mbps download and 1.54Mbps upload.     A T1 line is not a shared network connection, but is dedicated, meaning the T1 line goes from your site to the Internet directly (via Point to Point T1).    T1 lines come with a Service Level Agreement which guarantees all metrics of service and performance, as well as provide compensation if those metrics are not met.   T1 speed and performance are the highest available with low latency, packet loss, and downtime. 

T1 vs Cable:  Outages and service issues are rare.   Telecom networks are built with a high level of redundancy in place (99.999% up-time), and repairs to other parts of the network do not affect other users.   T1 Internet service is suitable for all types of applications requiring QoS, including VOIP, Video, VPN, and remote applications.    T1 service is a higher cost, but a very reliable Internet service for all types or businesses.   If a speed higher than T1 is needed there are other options available including Bonded T1, Ethernet Internet, or DS3 Line.

When looking at T1 vs Cable for business Internet service, you need to review each of the services pros and cons, as well as applications used with service.  Cost alone should not be the determining factor when deciding on T1 vs Cable (see Business Cable Internet and T1 Line Pricing).

DS3 Pricing for Internet bandwidth varies based on a number of factors.   DS3 Internet is also known as T3 Internet service with a maximum bandwidth speed of 45Mbps.   DS3 service is delivered either by the local phone provider (ILEC), competitive local phone provider (CLEC), or by a fiber provider.    A T3 line is either a fiber Internet connection or a coax wired connection.  Unlike T1 service, regular copper pairs are not used in the installation of DS3 lines. 

DS3 pricing is higher because of the costs involved in delivering the connection to a location (fiber or coax) and provider DS3 hardware costs.  DS3 price also depends on the distance from the service location to the providers POP (aka the Local Loop), the longer the distance, the higher the cost.   DS3 costs can vary based on the number of providers available for a building or service area (ILEC, CLEC, fiber providers).   The more DS3 providers available, the lower the T3 cost, especially in larger markets.    Outside of the local loop cost, there is the Internet port cost.   That part is typically much less than the local loop, does not vary based on location, but depends on the speed needed (3 to 45Mbps).

In rural markets, T3 costs are the highest because of all the factors outlined above, including limited T3 providers (usually just ILEC), longer distances between site and T3 provider POP, and less demand for T3 service.   DS3 pricing in rural areas can be anywhere between $3,000-$5000+ a month.  In small-mid sized markets costs are usually $1500-3000, and large metro areas can be as low as $1000-2000 per month.

An emerging technology that is becoming available in more markets and locations is Ethernet Internet Service.   Ethernet Internet connections are delivered as Ethernet over Fiber or Ethernet over Copper, both providing a lower cost per Mbps vs DS3 costs.   When considering Internet bandwidth costs you should consider both DS3 Pricing and Ethernet Pricing.

Bandwidth vs Latency are the two biggest factors in determining the true Internet speed of a connection.  It is also probably the most misunderstood aspect of data networks when deciding to optimize or upgrade bandwidth speeds.   When looking at Latency vs Bandwidth, you have to take into account both metrics together when comparing different types of data network connections and speeds.  

Bandwidth is a measurement of the size of a data connection (measured in Kbps, Mbps, or Gbps), this is the physical capacity, similar to a road (one lane, two lane, four lane, etc).   Latency is the measurement of speed that data travels across a network (measured in milliseconds - ms), similar to how fast a car travels on the road.  Lower latency equals a faster speed,  so a large bandwidth connection along with a low latency network is ideal when looking at Bandwidth vs Latency.

Internet latency varies based on the type of network connection you have.   T1 latency is the lowest, DSL latency falls in the middle, and Cable Internet has the highest bandwidth latency.   The reason why one type of connection has higher Internet latency vs another comes down to two main factors.   One is how the network is designed, is it a shared network or a dedicated network connection?    The second is how many hops or legs does that network have, for data to travel from your location to the destination (and back)? 

Both Cable and DSL Internet are shared network connections, meaning you are sharing network capacity in your area with numerous subscribers.  This is the reason why there are fluctuations in the bandwith speeds and Internet latency depending on the time of day, even though you bought a service that was supposed to have higher Internet speeds.   With DSL and Cable connections, there are no guarantees on your service for up-time, latency, packet loss, or repair (aka Service Level Agreement – SLA), it is called a “best effort” guarantee.    With a T1 line (or Ethernet, DS3, Fiber Internet), the connection is dedicated and the bandwidth is not shared, you are the only one using that bandwidth.   Internet speeds are always the same not matter the time of day, and service comes with a Service Level Agreement for guaranteed network performance.  This is the first factor in Bandwidth vs Latency issue.

Hops are basically stop lights on the information superhighway which allow traffic management (done by routers and switches).  DSL and Cable networks, because they are shared and typically congested, have many hops before they even get to the Internet.  Each of these hops creates milliseconds in delay which add up to slower data speeds (higher latency) and reductions in bandwidth based on network congestion.  A T1 network is a dedicated point to point circuit between your location and the Internet, with a minimal amount of hops or delays (lower latency), a dedicated Internet connection will always be faster than a shared data connection.   This is why dedicated Internet (Ethernet Internet, Fiber, DS3, T1) is used by businesses and shared Internet (DSL, Cable) is mostly used by residential and small offices.  This is the second issue in Bandwidth vs Latency. 

So when looking at both metrics, you need to take into account the issues described herein.  If you only look at part of the Latency vs Bandwidth equation you will not be effectively evaluating the reasons why your Internet connection is slow.   Here are some useful Network Tools to help evaulate Bandwidth vs Latency issue. 

Ethernet Broadband Internet is an emerging technology which offers high speed Internet access at a fraction of the cost of T1, DS3, or OC3 lines.  Broadband Ethernet service is delivered to a location in a number of ways, depending on the available telecom facilities and speeds in the area.    The most widely available service is Ethernet over Copper (aka EoC), which is basically Ethernet over phone lines.   The benefit of this Ethernet Broadband service is that almost every building has copper phone lines.   The cost for those lines are minimal, which means lower Ethernet over Copper Pricing.   Broadband Ethernet over Copper speeds depend on distance from a phone company central office (CO).  Internet speeds available are 2Mbps to 20Mbps, with  some providers now offering up to 100Mbps and 200Mbps Ethernet over Copper.  Installation time frames for Ethernet over Copper are usually 15-45 days. 

Another Ethernet Broadband service is Ethernet over T1 (aka EoT1 or EoDS1), which is similar to Ethernet over Copper Internet access.   Like Ethernet over Copper, it uses the existing copper facilities in a location to build T1 circuits.  These lines are then used to deliver the Ethernet over T1 service.   Unlike Ethernet over Copper, there are no distance limitations, other than having the right Ethernet Broadband equipment in the local phone company central office that services your area.   Some Broadband Ethernet providers even offer Ethernet over DS3 Internet to provide higher bandwidth speeds (over 10Mbps).  Generally service is available for speeds of 10Mbps to 100Mbps Internet, with Ethernet over T1 Pricing a little higher than EoC.   Installation timeframes are typically 30-45 days.

The last Broadband Ethernet access is Ethernet over Fiber (aka Metro Ethernet Service).   This type of Ethernet connection uses fiber optic lines to deliver Ethernet Broadband speeds from 10Mbps to 1Gbps+.   This Ethernet Broadband service is typically available only in metro areas.  Ethernet over Fiber connections are delivered to buildings that are already fiber lit, either by the local phone company or competitive telecom providers.   If the location is not fiber lit, but there are fiber networks in the area, they will usually build a fiber connection to the building.   The construction costs to build an Ethernet over Fiber line can be substantial, but in most cases the provider will absorb those costs with a longer contract term.    The benefit of Ethernet over Fiber is that the speeds are the highest currently available, with the ability to upgrade and change bandwidth without much effort.  Installation time frames can be long, with average installs running 30-120 days, depending on the amount of contruction involved to deliver service.   On the bright side, fiber optic Ethernet technology is future proof, and will be the cutting edge service delivery method for many years to come.  Ethernet over Fiber Pricing is also very competitive for higher bandwidth speeds.

Business Hosted VOIP is fast becoming the phone service of choice for both small and large businesses. Hosted VOIP, is also known as Hosted PBX, Hosted Phone System, Hosted IP PBX, Hosted VOIP Systems, or Cloud VOIP.  Basically Hosted Business VOIP is phone service using VOIP (aka SIP Trunking) to deliver Local, Long Distance, Toll-Free, and International calling.   The difference is the typical on-site phone system features are done virtually (in “the Cloud”) at the Business Hosted VOIP providers data center.  This eliminates the need to have an on-site physical phone system to handle calling features and routing of calls.

The benefit of not having an on-site phone system vs Hosted IP PBX are many. First would be the maintenance costs and upkeep needed on an on-site phone system, which also includes costs for adding as well as changing users and phones. These costs are typically included in the monthly cost of a Business Hosted VOIP service and are not extra. Another reason is the flexibility provided by a Hosted Phone System vs on-site, you can make adds and changes online to users, features, routing and not have to wait for the phone company or a tech to show up.  All the phone system features are virtual, including Hunting, Call Forwarding, Call Transfer, 3 Way Calling, Direct Inward Dialing (DID), Call Routing, Auto Attendant, Voicemail, and more. Also, since Hosted Business VOIP is virtual, the reliability and redundancy are already built into the service.  The likelihood of an outage or failure of phone service is minimal, since the provider data centers are extremely redundant.  With a traditional on-site phone system you have to worry about system failures due to power outages, lightning strikes, card failures, and software glitches, all of which can mean hours if not days of downtime.

As far as Business Hosted VOIP costs go, it is very much in line with traditional phone services such as ISDN PRI T1, SIP Trunking, Voice T1, Integrated T1, and Phone Lines.  The difference really is in the upfront costs, with a traditional on-site PBX phone system the costs are $2,000 and up, and that doesn’t even include the handsets - phones (additional costs).    With Hosted PBX solutions your upfront costs are minimal since the only pieces of equipment needed are the phones and a gateway or router.   Many of the Hosted VOIP providers will also waive the upfront equipment costs with a longer contract term.    Sound interesting?   See Hosted IP PBX Services.

T1 Residential Internet Services are typically used by people who work from home or run a business at a residential location requiring high speed T1 Bandwidth.   DSL or Cable Internet are not available so people look to T1 Residential Internet Service as an option.  Most Residential T1 Internet customers are located in rural areas and options are limited for higher bandwidth speeds.   A Residential T1 service is no different than a business T1 service, other than it is delivered to a home.   Like with business T1 lines, a Residential T1 line is delivered using copper pairs (aka Phone Lines) that are present in almost every building and home.   The local telephone company in your area will deliver the T1 circuit to your home in the same way they would with a business customer.   They build the T1 Line using existing copper pairs and provide a handoff of either an RJ-45 or RJ-48 phone jack connected to your T1 router or inside wiring (need Cat 5 cabling). 

Contrary to popular belief, a T1 line is available in just about any location, as long as you have regular phone service available.   There are no special restrictions on T1 Availability other than that.   Also, a T1 Residential Service is no different than a business T1 service in regards to speed, SLA’s, uptime, or features.   Residential T1 costs are also the same as business T1 lines, see T1 Line Pricing.   But since most T1 Residential lines are used in rural areas, the costs tend to be higher since the distance from a city or metro area are key factors in pricing a T1 circuit.    Overall a Residential T1 is the best solution for home users if DSL or Cable Internet is not available, as long as you are willing to pay the typically higher Residential T1 cost.

Dedicated Leased Lines aka Private Lines or Point to Point Circuits, are still a viable, low cost, data network solution. A Dedicated Leased Line is basically a secure, private, dedicated, data network connection between two points over a telecom carriers backbone (not over the Internet). The advantages of Dedicated Leased Lines are many, including high QoS, inherently secure (no encryption, VPN needed), very reliable (typically 99.999% up-time with SLA’s), with no fluctuations in bandwidth speeds (dedicated circuit). Leased Line circuits have been around since the 1970′s and have been the workhorse of secure, high speed, data networks ever since.

Many people predicted the death of Dedicated Leased Lines in recent years with the advent of MPLS VPN and its use as a secure data networking solution. But to the contrary, Dedicated Leased Lines are not dead and Dedicated Leased Line costs have come down quite a bit in the last 5 years. Leased Line pricing is still mostly based on distance between the two locations, so usually the shorter the distance, the less expensive the circuit will be (but not always). There are also a few options for flat rate pricing when the circuits are located within a metro or intrastate. In many cases it is more cost effective to use a Leased Line circuit to connect two locations than IP VPN or MPLS, see Leased Line Pricing.

Leased Lines also now come in a variety of higher bandwidth speeds (Ethernet Private Line), other than the traditional fixed T1 Leased Line or Point to Point DS3. Applications for Dedicated Leased Lines are many.  Some include voice-phones, video conferencing, secure data backup, Internet access (when connected to POP), and data transfer. So next time you need a good data networking solution, don’t forget to price Dediated Leased Line Circuits.

T1 PRI Lines (aka ISDN PRI T1) are used by small and large business, call centers, fax servers, to provide more than just local and long distance phone service.   There are a number of reasons why PRI T1 lines are the preferred voice communications solution.   The main reason is the increased functionality and flexibilty it offers over regular phone lines, VOIP, or traditional Voice T1 phone service. 

A T1 PRI line is a digital phone service consisting of 23 B channels (bearer channels aka phone lines) and one D channel for signaling, control, and call data communication between a PBX and the phone company switch.  Because it is a digital phone service (not VOIP) the quality and reliability of service is unsurpassed and the functionality of service is enhanced through communication with D channel.  The ISDN PRI D channel will set-up and breakdown calls quicker, provide robust caller ID info which can be tied to a backend database (for screen pops with info on customer calling in), allow for the use of Direct Inward Dialing (aka DID), as well as other advanced call routing features.    ISDN PRI lines are also used for dial-up data services mainly for remote internet access, vpn, or ISDN video conferencing, creating an on demand data solution.  PRI T1 lines can also be bonded together to create one trunk group for mulitple PRI circuits (so calls rolls from one circuit to next), increasing capacity to handle more inbound calls at once without busy signals.   

As far as T1 PRI pricing goes, there is suprisingly very little difference in cost between a PRI circuit and VOIP PRI or Voice T1 phone service, see PRI pricing.   PRI T1 lines offer the best bang for the buck and great functionality when it comes to business class phone service.

Ethernet vs T1, which is better?  It’s a common question we get, both have their pluses and minuses, but here is how they stack up.   The first reason which is on everyone’s mind is cost, per Mbps Ethernet Internet Access is almost always less expensive.   The second reason is speed, another hot button for most folks, Ethernet Access is available from 1Mbps to 1Gbps+, whereas T1 is available only as 1.54Mbps or bonded T1′s together up to 12Mbps (8xT1), after that you would then need to jump to fractional DS3 or full DS3.    The third reason is the equipment needed (router) on customers side, with Ethernet Access it is a standard Ethernet WAN hand-off which only requires an Ethernet WAN interface, this is typically a lower cost router (<$500).   With a T1 it requires a T1-WIC card in the router for WAN hand-off, which increases the cost of the router needed (>$1000).  

For Service Level Agreements (SLA’s), T1 vs Ethernet it is about the same, with most providers referencing same document for both services.    The only major downside of Ethernet vs T1 is the availability, typically Ethernet Service is available in medium to large cities and surrounding metros, and line is delivered as Ethernet over Copper, Ethernet over T1, or Ethernet over Fiber.   So overall T1 vs Ethernet is not even close, Ethernet wins hands down when available.   To check Ethernet vs T1 availability, see Ethernet Internet Service.