What's the Difference Between an Internet T3 Line and a T1?
Whether you opt for an internet T3 line or a T1 line, you can rest easy knowing you're going to get service that's reliable, fast, and easy to use. And, because neither type of technology has to be shared with other customers, you're also going to get security that cable and DSL customers can only dream of!
So, when it comes time to pick one, how do you know if you need a T1 or a T3 line?
To make the perfect purchase, you have to understand how these two types of technology are different. The difference lies in:
The speed
A T1 line's speed will blow traditional cable and DSL out of the water -- but even it can't compare to the speed you get with an internet T3 line. Because it's made up of 28 T1 lines, a T3 line is 28 times faster. You can count on it to transmit data at a whopping speed of 45 megabits per second!
The target audience
Unlike T-1 lines (which are popular in small and middle-sized businesses, and are even popping up in more and more homes), T3 lines are strictly for big businesses. Because an internet T3 line is so powerful, it's perfect for companies that have thousands of web surfing employees all working under one roof, college campuses that have thousands of students and faculty members logged onto the same network, and for hosting websites that get massive amounts of traffic every day.
To be honest, most small and mid-sized businesses don't need the power that an internet T3 line brings. Plus, T3 lines are usually too expensive for smaller businesses to afford.
Luckily, in virtually all cases, those smaller businesses will do just fine with a T1 line. The only time a smaller business would need T3 technology is if all of its employees needed unlimited internet access -- like if they were all downloading video all day long.
The downtime
T3 and Internet T1 lines will both give you 99.999% uptime, so they're both as reliable as it gets. The difference, however, is what happens when something goes wrong. Since so many different lines make up one internet T3 line, you can afford to lose a few without losing any of your speed. The technology is so advanced that you can work on one broken line and all of your data will switch over to a line that's working.