Half a T1 is Better Than None

You're sick and tired of that unreliable DSL line going down twice a week. Other businesses you know have T1 lines with service level guarantees and rarely experience outages. But, with only a few telephone lines and computers in the office you're thinking a full T1 service is probably overkill. Do you really have to live with unsatisfactory service until your business grows enough to afford first rate digital service?

In many areas, the answer is "not any more." A full T1 line with 24 voice channels or a combination of phone and Internet might indeed be overkill. Before you write it off, though, weight the cost of putting both your phone line and Internet service on a single Integrated T1 line. T1 phone plans often offer better long distance rates than standard dial tone service. If you make a lot of long distance calls, that could make T1 more attractive. Still too much money? In that case, take only a fraction of a T1 line for a fraction of the price.

Fractional T1 service is available from as low as 128 Kbps which can handle 2 telephone lines or Internet service for a couple of computers. Other common slices are 256K, 384K, 512K, 640K and 768K. 768K is half a T1. Above this rate, the difference between full and fractional T1 service starts to evaporate so you might as well get the full line service.

Check for the latest fractional T1 prices here.