T-1 vs. Wireless

Hey Everyone,

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?

Hi Gary,

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,

> 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?






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Gary Bohn wrote:

> Hey Everyone,
>
> 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?

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)

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.

On Wed, 2 Jun 2004 17:20:46 -0500, "Gary Bohn"
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>Hey Everyone,
>
> 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?
>

Stick with the T-1 connection . If there are situations that entail
wireless, buy wireless routers.
"Gary Bohn" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> Hey Everyone,
>
> 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?
>
>

In article <(E-Mail Removed)>,
Gary Bohn <(E-Mail Removed)> 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
ffering 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?

>> I am stuck with a delema. My employer wants me to check into wireless
>> 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

Taking a moment's reflection, Stefan Monnier mused:
|
| 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).

Taking a moment's reflection, Doug Jamal mused:
|
| 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.

Lots of people have weighed in with good comments. So far, we still have no
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" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> Hey Everyone,
>
> 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?
>
>