Ethernet over Copper Rising Rapidly

A combination of improved business conditions and productivity enhancements from automation are nudging, even pulling, companies toward higher bandwidth network connections. Rather than just order more of the same T1 or other line services, savvy managers are taking a fresh look at new technology that offers more bandwidth for less money. What’s the hottest WAN network service of them all? It’s Ethernet over Copper.

Ethernet over Copper, or EoC as it’s called for short, is pretty much what it sounds like. It is an Ethernet line service delivered over ordinary twisted pair copper wiring. That’s the same twisted pair copper that is now bundled into a multi-pair cable and already installed in nearly every business location. Some of those wires are used for multi-line telephone service. Others for T1 or other broadband line service.

What an EoC provider does is lease some of the copper pairs from the incumbent local telephone company that owns them. Just the bare wires are needed without signals of any kind. Then the provider installs special terminal equipment at each end of the circuit. This terminal equipment uses efficient modulation techniques along with interference cancellation technology to get the highest bandwidth possible consistent with maximum reliability.

So what can Ethernet over Copper give you that T1 lines can’t? For one thing, the interface between LAN and WAN is trivial. Since you already have Ethernet running on your local area network, it is directly compatible with an Ethernet service connecting you to the outside world. Just plug the WAN Ethernet service into your edge router and you are connected. There is no need for special CSU/DSU interface cards or other equipment to translate between dissimilar protocols. It’s Ethernet all the way.

T1 lines tend to be provisioned in units of 1.5 Mbps. If you want more bandwidth, you need to install another line. Still need more bandwidth? Then order another line to be bonded-in and wait for it to be installed.

Ethernet bandwidth tends to be highly scalable. Ethernet over Copper service typically starts at 1 to 3 Mbps and goes up to a maximum of 45 Mbps in just about any increment you want. The sweet spot is around 10 Mbps. That’s the bandwidth that many companies desire and it is easily delivered over copper. How much bandwidth you can get at any location depends on how close you are to the provider’s POP or Point of Presence. Nearby, it’s easy to get high bandwidths. A few miles away, you may have limited choices.

Just how hot is Ethernet over Copper. TelePacific, a major competitive service provider, is adding dozens of new Ethernet over copper wire centers by the end of 2011 just to meet the rising demands in its service footprint. High bandwidths up to 1 Gbps will be provided over fiber optic connections.

The rush to EoC is about more than bandwidth. It’s highly influenced by the lower costs that Ethernet services offer. Nationwide, you can typically get 3 Mbps Ethernet for the cost of a 1.5 Mbps T1 line. Cost savings at higher bandwidths are as good or better. The only thing limiting the meteoric rise of Ethernet right now is how fast carriers can deploy the service to every business location.

Could you benefit from the EoC revolution? Find out quickly and easily with a quick cost and availability quote for Ethernet over Copper service.

iPad Jones. I’ve Got An iPad Jones

I’ve been eyeing those e-book readers ever since the Amazon Kindle appeared on the scene. There’s some appeal in being able to tote lots of books with you wherever you happen to go. But even more appealing to me is the ability to adjust font sizes so I can read without my glasses on. Plus, not having to find space on the basement shelves for more books that do little more than collect dust is a bonus. I’ve held off, though, mostly because I don’t just sit and read book after book anymore. The real-time interactive nature of the Internet is just so much more compelling. If only you could have a e-book reader that was also an Internet computer. Now THAT would be something!


(The iPad baby picture courtesy of Apple)

Enter the iPad, Steve Jobs' latest paradigm shifting device. It’s an e-book reader, for sure. But it’s also an Internet computer that lets you surf the Web, shop online, watch movies and YouTube videos, store your photos, listen to music, send and receive email, get maps, make notes, manage your contacts and calendar, and even make presentations.

Those are just the initial applications that will be provided by Apple itself. What’s even more revolutionary is that the iPad is designed to run almost 140,000 existing apps from the App Store. Where did they get all those apps so quickly? These are the same apps that have been developed for the Apple iPod Touch and iPhone. Just look at the iPad design. Is it not a much larger version of those devices?

This is part of the genius behind the iPad and why it will change society. It’s a device you didn’t know you needed but won’t be able to live without once it’s in your hands. The fact that it comes with such an incredible array of software applications right out of the gate, and with the familiar user interface of other apple mobile devices, means millions of users will know just what to do with it instinctively.

At home, we can really use something like this for sitting around the living room with the TV on. No need to balance a clunky laptop on your knees. No need to go to another room to check Twitter, email, FaceBook, RSS feeds, favorite websites or online business activities. The electronic books are a bonus. I’d want one of these just to have Safari on a device I can hold like a book.

An iPad on the go has even more advantages. It’s about the size and weight of a thin hardcover book. That means it slips into a much smaller bag or briefcase than a standard laptop computer. Connectivity is via WiFi, of course. But it also comes in a version that will run on AT&T’s 3G network for complete mobility. Apple has even negotiated special wireless rates so that you’ll pay half or less what you would for cellular broadband on a netbook or laptop aircard.

What Jobs showed at the iPad introduction and what’s on the Apple website now is surely only the beginning. There’s an SDK for developers, and you know they’ll go wild with the new tablet form factor. I’d expect apps for business to be on the shelf by the time the first iPads ship in a couple of months. It seems so perfect for outside sales of all types, medical offices, factory paperwork, engineering teams, corporate meetings, college and even high school students.

What makes the iPad perhaps less than perfect? I would like to have seen a built-in webcam for video conferencing, multitasking capability and support for Flash websites. Perhaps these things will come later. Apple already offers a dock with a full size keyboard and a connector so you can sync to other computers and load pictures from your digital camera. With as popular as this device is going to become, you know that the aftermarket companies are testing prototypes of all sorts of peripherals in their labs right now.

Oh, did I mention the pricing? It starts at $499 for the 16 GB WiFi only device and goes up to $829 for a 64 GB WiFi + 3G model that will take an extra month to become available. Drat! I want to start using one of these tonight!