Ethernet WAN services are a relatively recent addition to the suite of telecommunications services available for business and other organizational needs. They are distinguished in their ability to maintain your signal in the Ethernet protocol from end to end. Until now, you needed to perform a protocol conversion between your company LAN and the TDM telco circuits needed to get from point to point.
Standard Ethernet speed is 10 Mbps, Fast Ethernet is 100 Mbps and Gigabit Ethernet is 1000 Mbps. GigaMAN is a Metropolitan Area Network service offered by AT&T that gives you a dedicated fiber optic point to point gigabit Ethernet connection. While called a metro area service and designed for use in major metropolitan locations, GigaMAN service can be run up to 180 miles between end points. That affords you a reasonably priced secure private line service for high bandwidth applications.
Who needs gigabit level transport services? You do if you have massive amounts of data to backup overnight to a remote data center. You may also need this kind of bandwidth for video or digital cinema work, electronic medical records, or transfer of large engineering or scientific simulations.
Ethernet services are becoming the WAN connection of choice for many users. They tend to be less expensive than similar speed traditional telco services. Ethernet service is generally scalable, with some providers offering increments from 1 Mbps all the way to 10 Gbps. Higher speeds require fiber optic connections, of course. But you may be able to get lower speed options provisioned over twisted pair copper as well as fiber. EoC or Ethernet over Copper tends to be available within several miles of carrier offices up to about 45 Mbps. The greater the distance, the lower the bandwidth that can be provided. EoDS1 or Ethernet over DS1 uses multiple T1 line connections to deliver Ethernet connectivity over much longer distances.
Do you have a need for high bandwidth connectivity, but are concerned that the speeds you require are beyond the reach of your current budget? You might be pleasantly surprised by how affordable Ethernet WAN has become, even at rates of 1000 Mbps or more. Check Gigabit Ethernet pricing and availability for your location now.
