You often hear about high speed internet in the news increasing to 5 mbps and at times 10 mbps download. For most residential users, that's great news. However the upload speed is often less than 1 mbps or varies greatly with cable or DSL.

For a business that needs reliable and consistent bandwidth, especially upload, cable or DSL is often not the best solution and in those cases, a T1 line is the best option. The T1 line has a local loop (from the local phone company) and the port (from the network service provider) and it often takes 30-45 days to install due to the time it takes to install the local loop.

If your office has a T1 connection, it means that the phone company has brought a copper line into your office (T1 lines sometimes come in on fiber optic). A T1 circuit can carry 24 digitized voice channels, or it can carry data at a rate of 1.544 megabits per second. If the T1 circuit (T1 voice) is being used for telephone conversations, it plugs into the office's phone system. If it is carrying data it plugs into the network's router.

T1 connections are extremely reliable -- much more reliable than a cable or DSL line. Depending on what people do online, a T1 line can generally handle quite a few people, usually 50 to 100 people. Depending on the T1 provider you choose, the quality can vary greatly between the T1 providers in terms of service and network quality (latency and downtimes).

A T1 line might cost between $300 and $1,200 per month depending on who provides it (a Tier 1 provider usually costs more than a Tier 2 provider) and where the location is. The cost is determined from a combination of the fee the phone company charges and the fee the ISP (internet service provider) charges.

For T1 pricing check out our current promotions or get price quotes from us