T-1 vs. Wireless
Gary Bohn
I am stuck with a delema. My employer wants me to check into wireless
internet. We currently have a full T-1 connection and are very happy with
the performance we get. We use VPN between two other offices for accounting
software and file sharing. Is the reliability of wireless and good as with
T-1. I have had DSL in the past, and had some delays in service. We
currently pay around $650/mo for full T-1 and the local wireless company is
offering their advanced wireless with 250MB for $50 includes VPN service. I
have 35+ computers all using internet approximately 30-50% of the time.
30-40% is sending/recieving files to/from clients (large files 2-5mb ever so
often).
I would prefer to stay T-1 for the reliability, cannot afford to be down
for long period.
Would anyone recommend wireless and why?
Dmitri(Cabling-Design.com)
If you are in a big city, then T1 should be much more reliable than any
kind of wireless. In this case, however, you should be able to negotiate a
better deal with another T1 provider (and threre may be dozens of them out
there) if you are not locked-in for a certain period of time. Check your
contract, see if there are any surprises there.
In a rural area your T1 probaly goes a large portion of the way over
microwave wireless anyways, so it won't make a difference in reliability,
I guess.
Also, reliability greatly depends on the actual provider's equipment and
emergency response procedures and many other organizational factors, and
not only on the technology used to deliver the signal.
What is "250Mb for $50", anyways? Could you elaborate on that, I'm very
curious?
--
Dmitri Abaimov, RCDD
http://www.cabling-design.com
Cabling Forum, color codes, pinouts and other useful resources for
premises cabling users and pros
http://www.cabling-design.com/homecabling
Residential Cabling Guide
-------------------------------------
Gary Bohn wrote:
> Hey Everyone,
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Rôgêr
Hard to say for sure, but for a savings of $600/mo I'd at least check
around and see how well the WISP has been doing so far. You have to
figure that the WISP gets their bandwidth from one or more T1s and would
have very good reliability to that point. It's as Dmitri says, its what
kind of equipment the WISP uses and how well they maintain it. Some
wireless equipment is up to the standards of the phone company for
uptime, some isn't. Even if you have a rare outage due to the extra
links thrown into the mix, that's a lot of bucks saved over time. On the
other hand if the WISP is using consumer level equipment cobbled
together with other stuff to make their links, you're definitely better
off with the T1.
I'd be interested to hear what you find out. Post back with the type of
equipment they use for a little better info (if not from me, I'm sure
somebody will know about the equipment)
Doug Jamal
wants you to check into "wireless internet". Right? Does your
employer simply want to surf the internet wirelessly via laptop, pda,
etc? If that is the case, couldn't you just install a wireless router
or an access point to your T1 modem? Your company will still enjoy
its current setup and your employer can have his wireless internet.
Then again, I'm unfamiliar with T1 modems. Anyway, it's just a
thought.
HiTek
wireless, buy wireless routers.
"Gary Bohn" <gb...@dailyengineers.com> wrote in message
news:40be5...@newsfeed.slurp.net...
Walter Roberson
Gary Bohn <gb...@dailyengineers.com> wrote:
: I am stuck with a delema. My employer wants me to check into wireless
:internet.
:We
:currently pay around $650/mo for full T-1 and the local wireless company is
:offering their advanced wireless with 250MB for $50 includes VPN service.
"with 250MB" -- does that mean a 250 Mb per month download limit before
surcharges kick in? If so given what you indicated about your file
systems, the surcharges are going to ruin you.
T1 rates almost always include "as much data as you can manage to
stuff through the line". Wireless rates, particularily in the $50
per month range, often include limits of ~1-2 Gb per month with
$10-$20 surcharges per each extra 1 Gb or part thereof. Exact prices
vary *greatly* with the plan and vendor, so be sure to ask
direct questions!
--
Suppose there was a test you could take that would report whether
you had Free Will or were Pre-Destined. Would you take the test?
Stefan Monnier
>> internet.
It sounds like one of those confusion marketing campaigns.
There is no "wireless internet" that I know of (except for stuff like they
have in some airports and coffee shops).
The alternative to T-1 is DSL, not wireless: you can have wireless+T-1
or wireless+DSL. Maybe your provider has some plans where you not only get
a DSL access but they also lease you a wireless router, but don't
get confused: the wireless-vs-wired is orthogonal to the question of
T-1-vs-DSL.
Stefan
mhicaoidh
|
| It sounds like one of those confusion marketing campaigns.
| There is no "wireless internet" that I know of (except for stuff like they
| have in some airports and coffee shops).
In most of the US there are WISPs (Wireless Internet Service Providers)
that supply internet connectivity directly to a wireless device (much like a
dialup modem, but with broadband throughput).
mhicaoidh
|
| Forgive me if I misread your question. You stated that your employer
| wants you to check into "wireless internet". Right? Does your
| employer simply want to surf the internet wirelessly via laptop, pda,
| etc? If that is the case, couldn't you just install a wireless router
| or an access point to your T1 modem? Your company will still enjoy
| its current setup and your employer can have his wireless internet.
| Then again, I'm unfamiliar with T1 modems. Anyway, it's just a
| thought.
Pretty much my thoughts as well. If the employer just wants a wireless
office, then put a wireless router on the T-1 line ... the best of both
worlds. If you really need that T-1 line for your business ... then a 250
MB limit on a wireless connection will quickly sky rocket the cost of the
WISP service.
gary
answers to the following questions:
- What exactly does "with 250MB" mean?
- Are you talking about a Wireless ISP (WISP) like IP Wireless, or Motorola
Canopy?
T1 is symmetric full-duplex, so you get 1.536 Mbps in both directions. If
you need to move data at high throughput both ways, be sure not to choose an
asymmetric wireless solution. Also, if you currently have a nailed-up T1
going by copper wire and/or optic fiber to the local CO, and from there to
the internet, your path to the internet will be anywhere from somewhat to a
lot more reliable than wireless. The reliability of the internet connect is
a separate issue.
If your telephone company offers it, you might also consider SDSL or HDSL,
but the costs for any wired last-mile solution are likely to be higher than
for wireless.
"Gary Bohn" <gb...@dailyengineers.com> wrote in message
news:40be5...@newsfeed.slurp.net...
Stefan Monnier
> | There is no "wireless internet" that I know of (except for stuff like they
> | have in some airports and coffee shops).
> In most of the US there are WISPs (Wireless Internet Service Providers)
> that supply internet connectivity directly to a wireless device (much like a
> dialup modem, but with broadband throughput).
Right, that's what I referred to when I said:
... Maybe your provider has some plans where you not only get
a DSL access but they also lease you a wireless router, but ...
-- Stefan
Stefan Monnier
> | There is no "wireless internet" that I know of (except for stuff like they
> | have in some airports and coffee shops).
> In most of the US there are WISPs (Wireless Internet Service Providers)
> that supply internet connectivity directly to a wireless device (much like a
> dialup modem, but with broadband throughput).
Wait.... do you mean that they have a pre-existing wireless network shared
by many people and you pay them to get access to it (basically like you do
in a coffee shop)?
Sorry I was slow. Indeed I'd never heard of it. What kind of wireless do
they use (is it some 802.11 variant so you don't even need any local
hardware, or is it some different standard)? What kind of bandwidth do
you get?
Stefan
Rôgêr
>
>> In most of the US there are WISPs (Wireless Internet Service Providers)
>>that supply internet connectivity directly to a wireless device (much like a
>>dialup modem, but with broadband throughput).
>
>
> Wait.... do you mean that they have a pre-existing wireless network shared
> by many people and you pay them to get access to it (basically like you do
> in a coffee shop)?
>
> Sorry I was slow. Indeed I'd never heard of it. What kind of wireless do
> they use (is it some 802.11 variant so you don't even need any local
> hardware, or is it some different standard)? What kind of bandwidth do
> you get?
>
>
> Stefan
There are many variations in equipment used, some is 802.11b, some is in
the 5gHz range, some in the 900mHz range, still more in licensed ranges.
The bandwidth is mostly dependent upon the WISP's pipe to the net and
how many subscribers they serve, but it can easily exceed DSL and cable
speeds.
gary
www.trangobroadband.com
www.wmux.com
http://www.ipwireless.com/
... and many others. All of the above are non-802.11. For more info, do a
seach on "wisp".
"Stefan Monnier" <mon...@iro.umontreal.ca> wrote in message
news:jwv1xkwyn7l.fsf-monnie...@gnu.org...
mhicaoidh
|
| by many people and you pay them to get access to it (basically like you do
| in a coffee shop)?
Yes. WISPs have access points around a given area, and users with
wireless network cards in their PCs or laptops can simply access them and
use that service exactly as if they were hooked up to cable modem or DSL
service ... except the wireless network card is the only hardware they need
(no modem or router required).
| Sorry I was slow. Indeed I'd never heard of it. What kind of wireless do
| they use (is it some 802.11 variant so you don't even need any local
| hardware, or is it some different standard)? What kind of bandwidth do
| you get?
It's somewhat a new service, and no all places have it. It can be good
and it can be bad ... it just depends. ;-)
Gary Bohn
http://volo.net/Home
Please give me your thoughts?? Is it as good as they say?
"mhicaoidh" <Ūęmõvé_mhic_aoidh@hotŅîXmailSPäM.com> wrote in message
news:aKKvc.6865$uY.5780@attbi_s53...
Gary Bohn
The 250mb is for the initial $50/mo usage. After that it is $10/mo for
add'l 250mb/day blocks of priority bandwidth. Check it out at
http://volo.net/Home I am still not convinced that the reliability will be
as good as T-1. We are not planning on utilizing any 802.11 wireless
connections within the office. However, I do have a bluetooth connection on
my PC, for use with my phone and PDA(but that's another issue).
I called the service provider and they said they are assymetric with 1mb
half duplex upload.
I figure our current connection is in the neighborhood of 5 GB/day
throughput. Which means we would need a dedicated wireless connection,
otherwise we would lose or share our bandwidth with other users.
My concern now is the asymmetric half duplex, and how will that effect the
usage for our other two offices over the VPN?
"gary" <please...@sbcglobal.net> wrote in message
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