Today various internet transmission Medias are available on the market. Depending on your needs, be it home or business, the ranges of technology accessible today are pretty wide and flexible.
In this article we will be talking about one of the pioneers of those technologies, the T1-Internet, a 30 year old technology that remains to be a good solution even in today’s standards.
T-1 internet a quick history
Before, way back 1960’s people mostly relied on analog transmission systems to deliver data from one point to another, these involves noisy modems as well as transfer rates only limited to 2kbps (a typical YouTube video at 240p take around 64kbps, so imagine how long you have to wait if YouTube was around), but then, digital telecommunications came along and everything changed.
One of the pioneers of digital communications is T-1 or DS1 and it has been around since 1960’s and with the service being publicized in 1986. Developed by Bell Telecoms (the guys behind the invention of the telephone itself) it has the ability to deliver 1.544 Mbps of data and has long been the foundation of various digital communication media we have today.
How does it work?
T-1 is connected to your local provider by means of a twisted copper cable or a fiber optic cable. Additionally at both ends there are T-1 capable interfaces, nowadays they maybe in form of routers or a separate equipment, these T-1 equipments are then in turn are connected to the Public Network(Internet) allowing data connections to the subscriber.
T-1 Internet, Why use it?
In contrast, T-1 Internet in terms of speed is already not so good in today’s standards, But speed aside, in its own right T-1 Internet still has its strong points that should I say are still critical in today’s business needs.
- T-1 Internet is a dedicated line – Today we mostly use home DSL/Broadband Cables for our internet connectivity, even given a allotted bandwidth, at times, when there is congestion on the Sub networks (networks that stem from your Internet Service provider) you can experience slowdowns or eventual disconnects. Although in a well maintained ISP network this does not usually happen, with so much factors (i.e. number of subscribers or poor networking practices) involved in between, getting a T-1 leased line is a good way of reducing risks when you need critical communications to be up 24/7.
- T-1 Internet has better upload speeds – unlike DSL which offers a low Upload speed, T-1 offers the same speed whether it may be download or upload.
- T-1 Internet QoS – Although Critical, I personally have seen ISP’s not implementing QoS properly, this may be partly intended on their part, but nonetheless one of the best things about getting that T-1 Internet line is connecting to the Core ISP network is that you don’t have to worry about QoS as the line is solely to the subscriber. Very important when VoIP comes to play, let’s say you plan to connect to a VoIP provider to host your calls and make them cheaper, then a T-1 leased internet line is definitely one thing you should consider.
- T-1 Internet Security –Lastly, Another strong point of T-1 Internet is security, to tap into a T-1 transmission line alone you would need a sophisticated (not to mention expensive) equipment to decode the data and of course some of these wires(in most cases) go to the central provider directly (less accessible than your average phone line). This is also a good thing to consider when you want to connect VPNs(Virtual Private Networks) through the internet
Author notes.
If you’re looking for a mid-cost and a high reliability with reduced maintenance cost T-1 Internet is definitely one of the things I would recommend. I have been working in the IT industry for a couple of years and I can tell you these systems last a LONG time (I mean I see several of these systems still functioning even after 20 years). If you are VOIP provider this is definitely one of the must have for your fallback networks and digital trunking needs.
