Friday, 22 July 2011

A Short Introduction To A T1 Line

By Sharon Taylor


A T1 line connection allows the transmission of 24 voice calls at the same time. When the connection is used for data then it allows 1.544 megabits per second (MBPS) of data over the wires. Such rates are clearly designed for business use. When applied as a domestic or personal service, T1 is expensive because there are other fast connections that are optimized for home use. Such are DSL and broadband cable connections. The reason why DSL or cable is cheaper is that the service has slower upload rates.

A very fast clock called a stratum clock is the reason why the connection is capable of handling 24 voice connections. The clock is used to drive a very fast switch called a multiplexer. What the multiplexer does is that it assigns a portion of the digitized voice call exclusive use of the connection for a very short time. Then it cycles to the next voice channel. So in reality there really is no simultaneous voice connection.

There are many reasons why this connection is more expensive than DSL. Aside from similar upload and download rates, a T1 connection is a dedicated connection. Regular telephone lines are only considered used when voice or internet data is being transmitted. This way a lot of subscribers can use regular phone lines. Being a dedicated connection, the T1 line can only be used by one subscriber.

While it is true that a subscriber has exclusive use of the connection, he may wish not to get the full 1.544 MBS bandwidth. But if we wish to get the full pipeline, the provider will charge him for burst connections. This way he can make use of the connection's full bandwidth. This type of service is called burstable T1 service.

A full T1 service is a contract where the customer receives the full 1.544 bandwidth for both uploading and downloading. This type of connection is also called as a digital trunk line. There are other connection schemes that allow a customer to maximize connection costs. Such examples are channelized and fractional connections.

The reason why it is possible for a T1 connection to have similar upload and download speeds is that it used two pairs of twisted copper wires for transmitting data. One pair connects to the internet at full 1.544 MBPS for downloading while the other pair makes it possible to upload data from the subscriber's computers at the same speed.

The copper wire is still the most common medium for T1 connections but is being rapidly replaced with modern fiber optic cables. Fiber optics are clearly able to transmit more than 1.544 MBPS of data but can be considered as T1 when the connection contract specifies 1.544 MBPS rate.

Businesses are the most common subscribers of T1 connections. The reason is that it is reasonable in cost and is also very flexible. Part of the bandwidth can be utilized for voice data while the remaining portion could be assigned to internet connections. With a relatively high upload speed, the subscriber can put up a server that can be accessed through the World Wide Web. While a lot of data connections aside from T1 are available the wide adaption of the connection in many parts of the United States make this a popular option for many businesses. It is also a cost effective option for small to medium sized enterprises for their connectivity needs.




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