T1 Line versus a cable modem

My T1 line at work is often being throttled to death by our ISP, in an effort to get us to upgrade, and in response to peak hour. If anyone at the business is downloading a file it slows to a crawl. Even a text-based website won't load.

My home cable connection has 10 times the bandwidth of the T1 at most, and in peak hours has at least 3 times the bandwidth.

It sounds crazy to think we should switch to a cable modem, but should we? All other options have been removed from the table I think!

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Comments

networker050184

The difference will be in the SLA. While that T1 doesn't have much bandwidth, it most likely has a much better time to repair than a residential cable connection. It will also have stricter maintenance schedules to present down time.

You may be able to look into business class cable, business DSL or just get another T1 added for a bundle. Quality of service is another thing to keep mind as well.

brad-

westward wrote: »

My T1 line at work is often being throttled to death by our ISP, in an effort to get us to upgrade, and in response to peak hour. If anyone at the business is downloading a file it slows to a crawl. Even a text-based website won't load.

My home cable connection has 10 times the bandwidth of the T1 at most, and in peak hours has at least 3 times the bandwidth.

It sounds crazy to think we should switch to a cable modem, but should we? All other options have been removed from the table I think!

We did about 2 years ago. We have about 100 users and went from T1 w/ ATT to a comcast business modem...zero complaints here. It comes in seperate from our WAN tho.

rwmidl

networker050184 wrote: »

The difference will be in the SLA. While that T1 doesn't have much bandwidth, it most likely has a much better time to repair than a residential cable connection. It will also have stricter maintenance schedules to present down time.

You may be able to look into business class cable, business DSL or just get another T1 added for a bundle. Quality of service is another thing to keep mind as well.

+1 on the above. If the telecom is throttling the T1 like you say, have you opened a ticket with the provider yet? Your SLA probably lists the bandwidth they are providing you, so if it is dropping you might want to have them check it out. You might also want to check on your side to see if there is anything that may be causing the degradation (maybe someone is streaming video/doing some P2P, etc).

it_consultant

westward wrote: »

My T1 line at work is often being throttled to death by our ISP, in an effort to get us to upgrade, and in response to peak hour. If anyone at the business is downloading a file it slows to a crawl. Even a text-based website won't load.

My home cable connection has 10 times the bandwidth of the T1 at most, and in peak hours has at least 3 times the bandwidth.

It sounds crazy to think we should switch to a cable modem, but should we? All other options have been removed from the table I think!

T1s are woefully underpowered for general internet use. We use a minimum of bonded T1s at my locations, many have bonded DSL lines, one has DOCSIS 3 cable which is outstanding. Whoever you are buying your T1 from, check to see if they offer business class DSL or cable. You may have to look for smaller providers who are willing to pull in synchronous DSL for you.