Dan M. MacNeil wrote:
The recent multi-homing discussion had a few disparaging remarks about "consumer grade" circuits.I've heard people (particularly sales people) express the opinion that a T1 was much better than DSL in terms of quality.I've heard: "Unlike DSL a T1 is tariffed and regulated so guaranteed a particular level of quality." "DSL has high latency"However, it is difficult to pin people down on specifics and several evenings of googling have not brought me clarity.In our case, one of our spaces is within a few hundred meters of the central office. We can get very high quality 6M/785K DSL for $150/monthTheoretically (3) fast DSL connections would give us more bandwidth and redundancy than one $400 T1 (we get non profit pricing)What am I missing? Any links or thoughts would be helpful.
IMHO, the people you spoke to are basically correct; but it might depend on who the players are and your location. xDSL lines are basically POTS lines. In our area (Boston, MA, USA) the local phone company (Verizon) tends to react faster to an issue if it's T1 loop as opposed to a POTS loop. So if there is an issue that is not basic hardware on either end and a tech needs to get brought in; odds are you'll get faster service if it's a T1 line.
On the technical side, xDSL lines are more suseptable to insider wiring issues. My own home ADSL is a prime example. I have occasional 'issues' and after 2 years of various troubleshooting, I am convinced the issue is the wiring in my house. No ISP or phone company will touch that without a lot of cash. With a T1, you're given a demarc and you plug your equipment into it; that's it.
That being said, I think SDSL is a good service for smaller companies on a budget. But I would make sure the customer understands that the line will go down; it's just a matter of when. If that is okay in their business plans, than so be it. :) I'm assuming they'll be running a server or two on their end. If not, ADSL will probably suit too; but the line going down caveat still applies. :)
My $0.02, M -- Michael Sprague | mfs@saneinc.net System and Network Engineering (SaNE), Inc use STD::disclaimer; -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.0.344 / Virus Database: 267.11.5/110 - Release Date: 9/22/2005