Is it time to look for t1 service? Many people are confused when they consider whether to upgrade from DSL or not. There are several factors to consider when examining you current DSL connection and the possiblity of replacing it. For many people the biggest factor is reliability and if reliability is critical to the applications you run over your connection you should seriously consider replacing your DSL connection with a T1. DSL is a quick and cost effective method of acquiring high speed bandwidth however it is not intended to support commercial applications or large numbers of users as are T1 connections.

Reliability becomes critical when customers or employees depend on your connection for immediate responses. If your customers use your connection to access your databases or your server or the internet then reliability of your connection is critical. If your employees depend on your connections because you host the e-mail server in house or host web servers or ASP type products, your connections is considered critical. A critical connection can be viewed much like a lifeline, without which your business would be negatively impacted. Your monthly savings of having a sub-par connections will not make up for the loss in productivity of your employees or loss of customers when your DSL connections gets bogged down or cut off. To reiterate, ciritcal connections should be supported with a T1.

Many customers are extremely price sensitive and cannot afford the cost of a T1 which can be as much as 20 times more expensive than a full T1 connection. Residential customers who are most sensitive to price should not consider a T1 circuit unless then have a business reason to pay for such a circuit and cannot access DSL service. Most people don't realize that a DSL connection can be just as fast as a T1 at 1.5Mbps. The shortcoming of DSL is that it is oversubscribed. This means there is a finite amount of bandwidth available and a customers speed can drop if other customers in the neighborhood decide to use their service. SDSL (Synchronous DSL) is a business class DSL and is ranked as a higher priority than residential DSL or ADSL (Asunchronous DSL). This means it is not oversubscribed to the extent than ADSL and is subject to fewer bandwidth restrictions. In short, if price is your critical factor go with DSL. If reliability is the critical factor purchase a dedicated T1.

If a T1 service isn't enough to meet your needs, you can choose from the Tier 1 service providers' comprehensive t3 line (DS-3) service options. This high-speed line is offered in variables of up to 45 Mbps (from 3 Mbps to 45 Mbps or just 45 Mbps, depending on your needs) of continuous bandwidth so you can optimize the response time of your Web site, transfer large video files, or offer regional Internet access. We found 5 service providers that offer great plans. The first plan we found was with ACC Business. ACC uses the ATT network exclusively and is at the top when it comes to reliability. At ACC you'll get the realiability you would expect from ATT without the price.

Sprint also came up high in our review of T3 service plans. Sprint offers an incredible SLA (Service Level Agreement) with their service standing behind the product they offer 100%. While this may seem like something all providers do, further research will show that not all providers offer an SLA like Sprint. The third provider offering a great T3 plan is Telepacific. Unfortunately Telepacific is a regional player and only offers service in California and Las Vegas. Because of their focus they are extremely specialized and offer incredible customer support and reliability. If you're not in California you may consider moving there just to get this service!

The fourth plan we found and highly recommend is Telarus. Telarus is a reseller for Global Crossing, Qwest, and Wiltel. While you will get the value of the underlying provider you will not pay the price you would going in the front door. Telarus buys in bulk from these networks and transfers on the cost savings to its customers. Telarus is a virtual provider so you will not have extra hops to the network. You jump right on from your local CO and don't have to worry about extra latency! The final plan we suggest in our top 5 is Savvis. Savis offers Tier 1 service and highly reliable customer service. While they have a limited footprint, once you're on the network you'll have one of the best services around.