T1 Vs. T3
Fractional to full DS3 or T3 circuits run from speeds of 3 Mbps up to 45 Mbps. For customers that require more bandwidth than a T1 line can provide but do not yet require the capacity of a full DS3 line, a fractional DS3 connection is the ideal solution. A fractional DS3 is similar to a full DS(T)3, only with some of the channels turned off. This reduces the total monthly cost and provides additional capacity that can be turned up in a matter of days. Unfortunately, the DS3 (T) loop is still required for this service. If a full DS3 line is more bandwidth that you really need, it is also possible to get Fractional DS3, which gives you a portion of full DS3 bandwidth at a lower cost. Of course, DS3 is also available in multiples to increase bandwidth, similar to bonded T1 service. A typical T1 circuit is only 1.5 megabits per second. A typical digital 3 minute song is 3 megaBYTES or 24 megabits in size. A typical digital photo is about 2 megaBYTES or 16 megabits. The usual Power Point presentation is ten megaBYTES in size or 80 megabits. If 3 or more people in the office were to email a power point presentation at the same time the office internet connection would slow to a crawl for 3 or more minutes. This does not take into account all the spam email clogging up your Internet connection while attempting to reach your mail server. Nor does it take into account many other new bandwidth hogging applications that others in office are using such as monitoring their nanny cam at home, watching Market Watch, CNN streaming video channels, or uploading a photo album to a relative. Everyday there are new bandwidth intensive applications being developed for the Internet. It is obvious that the common T1 connection cannot handle this growth. Your best option is to research application of a DS3 bandwidth solution. A DS3 (sometimes referred to as a T3 or E3) is a leased private dedicated line that goes directly from your office to an Internet Service Provider (ISP). A T3/DS3 connection is equivalent to 28 T1/DS1 connections and uses digital signals on fiber-optic cable at speeds of 45 million bps (bits per second) or 44.736 megabits per second. Generally, this type of dedicated line is for 50-100+ users and/or high bandwidth applications. T3/DS3 connections can also be used for point-to-point access (direct connection between 2 business sites). As a standard used in the North American and Japanese marketplaces, a DS3 can handle 672, 64Kbps voice conversations or one video data channel. The DS3 line has enough bandwidth to transmit full-motion real-time videos and very large databases over a busy network. Generally, a DS3 line would be installed as a major networking channel for a large corporation, research facility, call center, or university with high volume network traffic. However, there are multiple smaller scale business uses also, particularly when multiple locations are involved. Bandwidth for a Fractional DS3, up to a full DS3, generally run at speeds between 6 Mbps through 45 Mbps. DS3 connection (or T3 connection), is great for companies with large bandwidth needs. It is especially useful as the backbone for Disaster Recovery systems. If your company needs computer access for 50 + users, or needs to run high bandwidth applications like video conferencing, you are likely in the market for a T3/DS3 connection. A T3/DS3 line is also a viable solution for companies looking to resell bandwidth to their customers.
