Still, is it even possible to achive t1 speed with regular phone line?

We had a T1 line were I use to work. We also had 78 computers running Windows 2000 NT and a full time IT manager. I never did a benchmark but my computer at work didn't seem any faster then the one here at home on broadband. All the IT manger seamed to do was add panels to the Intel servers. I'd love to know what my old boss paid for all that stuff.

LOL, when it comes to surfing webpages dsl and t1 doesn't make much of a difference. However it does make a big difference when it comes to uploading and downloading.

Sorry had to run out real quick while this conversation was still on.
No it wont make a very noticeable difference as your connection is only as good as the source can provide and most webservers will never require all of your connections capability. But it makes a whopping difference when downloading. I was spoiled there for awhile. I was fortunate enough to be in on a project developing a streaming application for the hotel industry and it involved a lot of work from home and to test from home I needed a fast connection so they added me on the local loop with a point to point connection to the T3 at the office. I went crazy downloading when I was not working. Nice to have 20 files coming down at the same time each as fast as the server could pump them out and still be surfing at lightning speeds. I miss those days.

unknowndarknessx wrote:

Still, is it even possible to achive t1 speed with regular phone line?

Basically each loop is one channel of a T1 1.5Mbs Then your more or less like a network with each modems mac address listed as a node

robrowe wrote:

unknowndarknessx wrote: Still, is it even possible to achive t1 speed with regular phone line? Basically each loop is one channel of a T1 1.5Mbs Then your more or less like a network with each modems mac address listed as a node

You are going to have to rephrase that for me please. I am not quite sure where to begin...

There is a large misunderstanding on this forum and many forums about Internet speed. It comes from the fact that most do not understand the fundamentals about what speed actually is.

Generally when people refer to speed they are referring to bandwidth. For the sake of an analogy, picture bandwidth as the width of some proverbial pipe of water. The scond type of "speed" is latency. In layman's terms, how responsive the connection is. In our analogy, this could be considered the velocity at which the water moves throughout the pipe.

This day and age it is not hard to get a T1 worth of bandwidth. I shall digress here to explain what a T1 really is, in layman's terms. Think of a T1 as 24 phone lines (channels) rolled into a single digitized logical connection. Each phone line has a maximum bandwidth of 64 Kib/s. We multiply this 64 Kib/s/channel times the 24 channels and we arrive at 1536 Kib/s aggregate. Add in additional framing information (8 bits) and we arrive at 1544 Kib/s. Move the decimal 3 places to the left (to change the Kilo to Mega) and we are left with 1.544 Mib/s.

Note that all of our answers are in bits, many applications (download meters) use bytes. So we can divide our answers by 8 (8 bits/byte) to arrive at a byte answer. 1544 Kib/s = 192 KiB/s.

Thus, a T1 worth of bandwidth is 192 KiB/s and it is full-duplex. This means you can upload at 192 KiB/s and download at 192 KiB/s at the same time.

So what is the point? I regularly download at > 192 KiB/s on my cable at home? So my cable is "faster" than a T1? Well, yes, in terms of download. Many cable modems are capped at around 3 Mib/s which is somewhere in the ballpark between 375 - 400 KiB/s. So you are actually capable of downloading faster than a T1. However, a T1 has you beat in upload and latency. A T1 is generally a dedicated link, meaning that it is always there for you and is very quick (in terms of latency).

If you are using your cable and Joe Blow decides to download the Library of Congress, your connection might suffer. Not with a T1 (with certain exception). This is how broadband providers can sell > T1 bandwidth at low prices. They sacrifice reliability in all forms.

Cable vs DSL Reliability

It is important to note that there are inherent differences in the way that your data herded when using DSL or Cable.

The cable network is shares many similaries with ethernet hubs. Every node can sense every other nodes traffic. All nodes share the bandwidth of the medium. Thank god for cable, the bandwidth of of the cable infrastructure (coaxial cable) is very high. Thus, the fact that the cable network "shares bandwidth between nodes" is a moot[er] point.

DSL on the other hand has much smaller bandwidth but each node has its own connection to the phone company. It is in this sense that DSL has properties inherent to an ethernet switch. Although unlike an ethernet switch, the bandwidth from the node to node is much smaller.

Regardless of whether or not you are on DSL or Cable, one fact still remains. Your cable or DSL line plugs into something at the companies end. In DSL, this is usually called a DSLAM. In cable, (I am not a cable guy, Shannon could back me up here) this is sometimes called the head-end.

A single DSLAM handles many DSL connections and the head-end handles many cable customers. The bottom line is that the "back-side" of the DSLAM or head-end has its own Internet connection. Depending on the age of the equipment, it may be using T1's, T3's, etc. Once the back-side Internet connection of either the DSLAM or head-end gets loaded, everyone using that equipment will suffer performance penalties.

In the end, it comes down to the company providing the service. If they "feed" their DSLAMs and head-end[s] with high speed reliable connections, then people are happy. However, if the connection feeding the equipment is too slow for the number of users then everyone suffers.

-Weaver

Thanks Weaver, that was very informative, I've never used a t1 before. Does it use a fiberoptics cable?

unknowndarknessx wrote:

Thanks Weaver, that was very informative, I've never used a t1 before. Does it use a fiberoptics cable?

Thanks weaverI kew you could expand my simple version to inlude a much more informative outlook. I just try to remember KISS or keep it simple stupid. Makes it easier to understand for those of us who have market shares in"Windows for Dummies"

Most are copper connections.

I’ve had SBC DSL for about a year now, no complaints. My friend down the street has Cable, no complaints. When I’m at his house, I can’t see the difference between the both. Bottom line, what ever that means, is go with what you can afford because if money was no issue, we would all be doing the superman thing across the internet.

DSL users must be within 3 miles of the switching stations, also known as central offices or remote stations. been using B.S. Fastaccess for a year with no speed shortages. but to help out UnknownDarknessX, I dont need anyones software for this modem. no special settings to go online. takes aprox 30 seconds to setup windows to access the connection for the first time,i also run a static I.P. address. but i feel the best info does come from the customers who use the individual companies. you can goto

www.broadbandreports.com

and lookup by connection type and look up the ISP and read about user remarks and there is alot of info there also.