Partial T1 Internet cost?

N

NOego

Can anyone tell me, what would be the average cost, per month, for a partial T1 line? For example, how much would a 256kb/s or 512 kb/s line cost me?

I'm considering hanging up the cable internet solution I'm running now. The reason is that the cable companies don't supply Service Level Agreements.

Those with the experience of both T1/cable Internet, is it worth the cost, going to a T1 over a cable/dsl solution?

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you...:)
Noego
 
those costs vary all over the place, it depends on where you live. But, you may be onto something. The reason is that some people are paying for both cable modem and dsl in order to have a backup. In my local area, you could have a 256k frame relay ( fractional t-1) for about the same money per month, although there would be one time installation and equipment costs of several hundred dollars on top of that. But, you would have the same network link as many small companies and you would get serious service guarantees.
 
Noego,

DotSlash has brought up some good points about costs. You need to look at the whole picture of what it's going to cost you:

Service Charge - 1000/mo to 2500/mo for AT&T T1/DS1 type access.

Local Loop - 250/mo, possibly waived with SINA style agreement (which is voice/data on the same T)

You'll need a CSU/DSU or a router like a Cisco 2600 with a card to make the T usable. If you are running voice/data, be prepared to need about 8 voice (24 channels on a T, 8 being the lowest they'll break it) to a channel bank (which are running anywhere from 500 to 3000).

Can't say I really recommend it unless you are trading with a few people out of an office. You'll get your SLA, but at what cost?
I might suggest getting a quality router with two POP's (cable, dsl, Fixed Wireless/Microwave) and have it set to change routing when crap goes south... You might even have traffic partitioned to keep more traffic on one verses the other! Many possibilities.

Hope that helps.

Skinner
 
Skinner...we have had extensive discussion about this "double broadband as backup" on ET bulletin boards...Have you any expereicnes with these? Upon doing lot of research, there dsoesnt seem to be any tried-and-true solutions...rather new gadgets - like Nextland or Compex routers, or the Midpoint software solutions - which may or may not work as advertised. Also, how would a highspeed main with dial-up backup work? What hardware.software do I need for dial-up backup to work properly (automatically)?? Any ideas?
 
I predict that not only will Nitro make a prediction about the length of this thread but that you guys are going to get a lengthy debate on this subject from Nitro...
 
I can't say there is *one* way that works all the time. The major things I consider about recommending a solution are complexity, cost and consistency. I'm heading out of town till Wednesday of next week doing some Sport Fishing at a tournament - I'll followup more when I come back! :D

If you are a hardcore, savvy user and don't mind running a cmdline occasionally, I would recommend some solutions over others. If you're interested in having this learn dynamically, you're in for fun because convergence doesn't happen fast - I don't care what your using OSPF, RIP, etc. I may suggest the whole issue of connectivity can be done one of the following ways:

Hardware:
Find at least two means of connecting (DSL, Cable, Fixed Microwave, Satellite, etc) that are ethernet connectible. Get a router that does the following:
Three 10/100 Ethernet ports
NAT/IP Filtering
Static IP addressing
Some means of Static Routing w/ precedence.

Here's what you could do with a Cisco 2600 series with 3 interfaces. Connect one to your internal network (may need to be translated to private IP space), one ISP A, and one to ISP B. If you're really anal, make ISP A and B different with two different backbone providers and put everypiece of modem/router equipment on a UPS rated for 10 minutes at the VA drawn. :D You'll need to set the router to push static routes to the faster of the two with the precedence of the route set lower for the backup (it will route traffic according to prioity set in the config file in Cisco IOS).

Software:
Find at least two means of connecting (DSL, Cable, Fixed Microwave, Satellite, etc) that are ethernet connectible. This option may actually allow dial-out since you can have a modem in the computer running RRAS.
Windows 2000 Server
Static IP addressing for the server NICs

You can do the same type of configuration as with the Cisco. It is a necessity to have three NICs in the box, and it can translate via NAT the internal space to the outer two with RRAS. I might suggest you harden this box a bit (RAID, extra fans, redundant power, etc) since it's really the link to the outside world. Now you might squeal about running RRAS and Windows 2K, but I have had no issues when the box is setup right and kept clean. Other solutions may be available (*nix) but mileage varies.

I'm a tad biased to hardware, but this is coming from a person dealing with MS for about a decade - I know what it can and can't do.

Might I suggest keep an internal modem to dial out on when all else fails... ;)

Just my two cents... Have fun while I'm gone!

Skinner
Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (W2K, NT4) by day for grins
Cook, and general handyman by night.
 
Originally posted by NOego
Can anyone tell me, what would be the average cost, per month, for a partial T1 line? For example, how much would a 256kb/s or 512 kb/s line cost me?

I'm considering hanging up the cable internet solution I'm running now. The reason is that the cable companies don't supply Service Level Agreements.

Those with the experience of both T1/cable Internet, is it worth the cost, going to a T1 over a cable/dsl solution?

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you...:)
Noego
More...

Yes.
 
Originally posted by Skinner
Noego,

DotSlash has brought up some good points about costs. You need to look at the whole picture of what it's going to cost you:

Service Charge - 1000/mo to 2500/mo for AT&T T1/DS1 type access.

Local Loop - 250/mo, possibly waived with SINA style agreement (which is voice/data on the same T)

You'll need a CSU/DSU or a router like a Cisco 2600 with a card to make the T usable. If you are running voice/data, be prepared to need about 8 voice (24 channels on a T, 8 being the lowest they'll break it) to a channel bank (which are running anywhere from 500 to 3000).

Can't say I really recommend it unless you are trading with a few people out of an office. You'll get your SLA, but at what cost?
I might suggest getting a quality router with two POP's (cable, dsl, Fixed Wireless/Microwave) and have it set to change routing when crap goes south... You might even have traffic partitioned to keep more traffic on one verses the other! Many possibilities.

Hope that helps.

Skinner
More...

You can get a Tier 1 for $1200; down to about $800 for a reseller.
 
One satellite possiblity is Starband http://www.starband.net/ but be sure to make sure your datafeed & broker works thru them (someone I know uses E-Signal via them).

In this case, the satellite is two-way (no phone lines involved).

Two good places to check out Starband before buying are:

http://www.dslreports.com
http://www.starbandusers.com

The starbandusers.com site is a member-only site but for $15/year it's worth it to get honest answers and meet others that are using Starband for trading.

DSL Reports is a good site for any investigation into any broadband/high-speed internet access- you can look up by vendor to see what good/bad experiences people have had with them... Starband is among those listed.

Mr. Toad
 
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