An Internet T1 connection offers countless benefits for businesses of any size. Internet T1 lines connect directly to businesses, sidestepping traditional phone lines used for standard internet connections. To put it simply, visualize an electrical grid supplying power to all the homes within a city – an Internet T1 connection is akin to a direct link to the generating station.

Faster transmission speeds increase download and upload rates, and as a result, employee productivity. T1 lines allow company websites to be updated quicker, and support advanced applications, such as web and audio conferencing. Furthermore, Internet T1 lines provide a more dependable all-round service that diminishes the possibility of idle time for employees that are waiting for a lost connection to re-establish itself.

High speed Internet connections, such as T1 and T3 lines, offer many benefits for businesses of all types and sizes. Internet T1 and T3 connections provide faster download and upload speeds that allow employees to work more efficiently, and make for a more reliable, productive, and lucrative business.

Additionally, T1 connections offer Service Level Agreements (SLAs) that protect customers by providing them with compensation should any issues arise. The main goal of an SLA is to protect your business. Operational SLAs provide more than a nominal return, which is generally up to 10% of the cost of service in the event of an infrastructure failure. When written properly, SLA’s give you a way to mitigate the effect of problems that harm your network.

SLAs typically cover metrics such as latency, availability and throughput, and occasionally response and repair times, and problem notification/escalation guarantees. More inclusive SLAs include installation lead time requirements, billing dispute resolution timing requirements, account management responsibilities, such as documentation, training, and regular product and technology briefings over the life of your contract as well as service changes. While SLAs do not guarantee better service, they have the ability to protect everything you need – and then some.

“A T1 line is like breezing along in the carpool lane.
While other web browsers slog through traffic,
Internet surfers with T1 connections
never have to let off the gas pedal:
no speed bumps,
no traffic jams,
no rubbernecking.”

Adam Feuerstein
San Francisco Business Times

In order to stay ahead of the competition and be successful, banks today must continuously expand their network infrastructure. Internet T1 and T3 connections allow banks and financial institutions to:

• Significantly reduce long-term infrastructure costs
• Utilize an always on, dedicated connection 30 times faster than dial-up
• Extend information and operations applications to remote branch offices
• Enable centralized control and management as well as easy deployment of complex, diverse business-class applications across geographically dispersed branches and banking centers
• Provide high-speed, secure and reliable Internet access and application performance to increase productivity

If your business has reached the point where Internet T1 or DSL service no longer has the speed to meet your necessary bandwidth requirement, consider a switch to T3 or DS3 service.

How T3 Differs from DS3 ?

The terms T3 and DS3 originate from the T-carrier system where everything is based on a digital signal level zero (DS0) – a 64Kbps channel. A DS1 is comprised of 24 individual DS0 channels. A T1 is created when a DS1 is attached to a wire circuit and transmits at a speed of 1.54Mbps.

While “T3” and “DS3” are often used interchangeably, in order to attain the lightning fast speeds of a DS3 – 45Mbps – 28 T1 lines (or DS1 channels) must be grouped together. As in the case with DS1 and T1 connections, once you link the 28 lines to a wire circuit, you have a T3 line that is equivalent to 672 voice channels.

What about OC-3, is it equivalent to a T3 or DS3 ?

Not quite. When it comes to the T-carrier system, a T3 is the “big kahuna.” Copper wire based, one T3 or DS3 line is equivalent to OC-1 service that runs at 52Mb per second and provides 64k data channels (672 voice channels). The highest possible OC level presently available is OC-768, which runs at 40Giga bits per second (39,512Mb per second).

OC-3 is a division of the Optical Carrier (OC) levels defined for Synchronous Optical Network (SONET) – a fiber optic transmission system. While a T3 runs at a speed of 45Mb per second, an OC-3 runs at a mind-blowing 155Mb per second. That being said, the costs increase as the speed goes up.

When should I consider T3 or DS3 service ?

Businesses that require more than what a single T1 or DS1 connection can offer should not immediately jump to a T3 or DS3. Bonded T1 service allows you to combine multiple T1 lines and provides speeds a great deal faster than a single T1 connection. However, once you begin bonding 6 or more lines, a T3 connection (equivalent to 28 separate T1 lines) becomes a more cost effective option.

DS3 transport can become an economical alternative to point-to point-microwave for MPEG Broadcast Video Transmission. DS3 is also appropriate for Closed Circuit TV Systems, Surveillance Cameras, and VLAN Trunks, making it the ideal solution for companies that require high-speed data transmissions between offices, and businesses such as:

• Universities
• Call centers
• Research Laboratories
• Video conference centers
• Internet Service Providers
• Businesses that handle software development
• Enterprise-wide IP PBX and VoIP systems

As in the case of T1 and DS1 service, if you require more than a full T3 or DS3 can offer it is possible to increase your bandwidth by bonding multiple lines together.

OC3 Connection

Every day, a growing number of businesses are learning that high-speed Internet connections enable solutions to many of our most challenging financial and environmental problems.  A high-speed Internet connection, such as a T3 line, reduces a business’s carbon footprint while promising considerable economic pay-offs.

An Internet T3 line is a high-speed Internet connection capable of transmitting data at an impressive 45Mb per second – that’s equivalent to the transmission speed generated by 750,560Kbps modems. One of the fastest broadband Internet connections available today, T3 lines are commonly used by large and growing businesses dealing with high volumes of traffic and large data transfer requirements. Internet T3 connections are also utilized by universities and health care facilities that can take advantage of the large user network their database will host.

Comparing T1 and T3 Connections
The greatest difference between a T1 line and a T3 line are their data transfer speeds. T1 lines operate at speeds 30 times faster than traditional 56k dial-up; likewise, T3 lines operate at speeds 30 times faster than a T1 connection. For this reason, T3 lines are a great deal more expensive and can run up to $15,000 a month. That being said, it is important to remember that you get what you pay for, and such is the case with an Internet T3 connection.

Fractional T3 Lines
Today, many businesses require more from their Internet connection than a T1 line can offer, yet they don’t necessarily need the power that a full T3 connection offers. If your business falls into this category, consider a fractional T3 connection. Fractional T3 lines switch off a number of channels – lowering your data transfer speed as well as the overall cost of operation.

Benefits of T1 and T3 Connections

• Drastically reduce your business’s infrastructure costs over time
• Basic, daily carbon-intensive activities are replaced with e-commerce, business and long-distance communication programs, telemedicine, and other carbon-neutral alternatives
• Secure and reliable real-time transmission of data and imagery at speeds 30 to 60 times faster than traditional 56k dial-up
• Virtually eliminate geographical barriers and the hassle and expense of business travel via video and web conferencing
• A dedicated, always on connection capable of extending operations applications and information to remote branch offices