T1, here I come...

I've finally gotten so sick and tired of the reliability (or lack thereof) of DSL that I've just ordered a fractional T1 line from Speakeasy. DISCLAIMER: the previous link is a referral link...I don't have my line installed yet, so I can't speak to their line quality, but the pre-install service has been the best I've ever seen. If you want to see what Speakeasy has to offer without the referral, that's cool, too.

The downside of a fractional T1 is paying much more (to the tune of a couple hundred dollars a month) for the same bandwidth (384K). The upside is that there's practically no limit to the distance from the CO (unlike DSL, for which I'm at the very outside of the technically feasible range), and the local telco is contractually obligated to actively monitor the line, and respond to any outages within hours. Given that outages (or service problems) with DSL can last for days, in my experience, this should be a notable improvement. T1 also uses double the pairs, so it's likely that I'll be getting closer to my rated speed (though I've had pretty good luck with SDSL on that front).

I would also note that for anyone who, like me, really wants to host their ASP.NET applications on their own server, so they have complete control, a fractional T1 offers (theoretically) pretty good reliability at a reasonable cost. And if you start hosting applications for others, the cost can quickly pay for itself (and it's easy to upgrade to faster speeds should that become necessary).

Finally, one interesting twist with Speakeasy is that they provide the ability to share your broadband connection with neighbors for a fee, via WiFi, and Speakeasy takes care of all of the billing for you. It's an interesting program, in that it allows you to offset some of the costs of a more expensive connection, without having to deal with the payment issues (although you're responsible for tech support, etc.). I haven't decided yet whether I might try to take advantage of this, but according to them, it's unique in the industry that they not only allow this kind of sharing, they actually provide infrastructure for it (including email accounts, etc.).

1 Comment

  • $359 (or more) a month is a reasonable cost? Why not colocate?





    And the lame transfer rates really kill the deal, even if I were in a position to pay the awful rates the telecom industry continues to demand for this and more-basic services.





    I do hear good things about speakeasy.com from wealthy friends.





    I didn’t know all these guys were wealthy until I browsed the Speakeasy price list. Look, the biggest reason for the slow acceptance of broadband in the U.S. is preposterous pricing. This has been an issue from the introduction of ADSL technology. Forget T-1. No real people were interested in that when it was released (and few are now, local proprietor excepted).





    We who do business on the back of the internet have been hamstrung for years by overreaching telecoms. Going for market share and broad acceptance, DSL could have conquered America long since. Instead, excessive bandwidth throttling, excessive pricing, unforthcoming web sites with no e-commerce features, and the attitude that customers need DSL more than telecoms need customers has caused a bottom-scraping market for telecoms. Yes, snottiness and greed did in Worldcom, XO, Global Crossing, Exodus, Genuity, Adelphia, and countless others, and we’re all paying the price.





    Speaking of which, thank goodness cable companies – an odd thing to do, considering that racket seems to be dominated by trained chimps – for having the sense to give actual high-speed service at a price at least approaching reason. Of course, spotty coverage (which may nab any of us with the $40 or $50 a month and a need) and still-not-reasonable prices have mitigated even their market penetration.





    When ISPs switched from 14.4 to 28.8 and then to 56-ish for dial-up, the changes didn’t bump up pricing. These improvements were viewed as technological advances that brought with them new opportunity. People weren’t asked to pay double for the extra speed. Providers assumed that as the internet became more worthwhile, the investments made in better technology would pay for themselves in greater usage, more customers, and fees for a broader range of services. When the economy picked up and fiber started going into the ground, ideas changed. People seriously thought there was a limitless market hoping to pay $50-60 a month for 256 or 384 by 128 (or worse) service. After being forced to jump through hoops for pricing and availability and being asked to wait a month for installation.





    Of course that was preposterous. But these clever telecom snots (now I'm sorry I started this line of metaphor/derision) figured there was limitless money in the world and that everyone had egos as big and brains as empty as they had.





    Which brings me back to speakeasy.com. I'll write to thank them, sincerely, for putting up an engaging, informative site. But best of luck to them selling to people other than successful IT types, like Mr. Duthie here, and stray CEOs. I’m sure Speakeasy pays insane prices for their pipelines too, so I don’t blame them. But Speakeasy operates in a business that continues to be wrongheaded even after its errors have been dramatically and repeatedly demonstrated.





    All that and, as you've indicated, DSL, as it turns out, stinks.





    Our only hope is that the trained chimps speed up transfers and drop prices into attractive ranges. But no one should hold breath waiting for that to happen. We should move to Japan or Korea if we're really into the internet.





    Sorry I missed the Cap Area gig, by the way.

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