Changing from DSL to T1 question

[tonetgs]

Hi. On Monday (1/8), I am changing my high-speed access from DSL to a shared T1 in my apartment. My question is: do I need to disable my DSL connection before I can get my T1 connection to work? The T1 connection, like my DSL, will use my regular phone line. Does T1 and DSL use the same high frequency levels and, therefore, be in conflict? I spoke to the technician who will be coming on Monday and he wasn't sure (not a good sign).

Thanks in advance for any help.

Tonet

 

[Quickfingerz]

I've never heard of T1 connecting through phone lines. That's a new one for me.

 

[CTR]

T1 is a point-to-point circuit consisting of 24 multiplexed timeslots (ds0's) 64Kbps each. It is not broadband, so you can't ever share it with anyone else. That's why your apt. complex has to have a router. The router uses the T1 circuit to establish a 1.5 megabit (1536kbps)point-to-point connection to an ISP. You've evidently got some kind of shared media (using your phone lines) that runs back to a central location and interfaces with the router. Does that help? It sounds like the technician is going to come out and install something that plugs into your phone jack and gets you back to that router somehow.

 

[tonetgs]

Thanks for the info, CTR. I'm not sure exactly what is going to happen on Monday. All I know is that the technician just needs to do something down in the phone room in my apartment building and then he's going to come up to my apartment and install an external box to go between my phone jack and my NIC. But I will be using my regular phone line. They wired my apartment building in September 2000 with a T1 line. They told me there are only about 10 people who have subscribed so far.

But back to my original question...do I need to disable my DSL connection before I can get my T1 connection to work?

Also, can you clarify what you mean by the T1 not being shared? Isn't that how office buildings are wired in a fractured T1 set-up? It's a shared T1 line, right? I mean, each office I assume isn't getting the full 1.5 Mbps. I assume my apartment building is the same way. So won't all of the tenants essentially be sharing the 1.5 Mbps?

Ack...I'm confused.

Thanks,
Tonet

 

[CTR]

You'll be sharing the bandwidth, not the physical circuit. The T1 circuit only exists between the router and the ISP.

Fractional T1 service is when you use fewer than 24 of the 64Kbps timeslots. For instance, you can get 128Kbps service or 384Kpbs or any multiple of 64Kbps (between 1 and 24). Sometimes this can be cheaper, especially with Frame Relay service over FT1.

You should go ahead and disable your DSL stuff because there is no way they are going to re-use it with this new stuff.

 

[tonetgs]

Thanks again, CTR, for the helpful response. I've learned a lot about how T1 works! But to get to the heart of the matter...I specifically need to know if my current DSL connection will interfere with them setting up the T1 service. If not, then I won't call my current DSL ISP to cut off the service. This is a good thing because then if the T1 connection doesn't perform like it's supposed to, I can easily revert back to my DSL connection. What I don't want to have happen is I get rid of my DSL and then find out the T1 isn't up to snuff and then have to re-establish my DSL connection all over again (it took long enough the first time working with Bell Atlantic/Verizon). If the T1 line works great, then I'll, of course, officially get rid of my DSL.

So, basically, all I need to know is: can they physically hook up my T1 service with my DSL connection still enabled?

Thanks so much again,
Tonet

 

[Damaged]

<< I've never heard of T1 connecting through phone lines. That's a new one for me. >>


No offense, but how do you think it works? A single copper T-1 is merely two twisted pair. Multiplexing 24 DS-0s onto two pair saves 22 copper pairs, hence the derivation of why some people refer to T-1 as a pair-gain system.

It's the same old 24awg twisted pair though. Just two of them instead of one (send and receive).

 

[Maniac9127]

It all depends on what kind of system your apartment uses, since it's just a network hooked up to a T1. It wouldn't matter if it were an OC-12 or a 28k. You're going to have to find out what they're using in the building.

 

[Eug]

Just wondering what the companies charge for 1.5 T1 lines nowadays.

I was looking for a place a while back and finally came to the conclusion that a 1.5 T1 was a negative for me, not a plus. Why? It seemed around here the only way to make it cost effective was to have maybe 20 people sharing, but this was a couple of years ago. It made much more sense just to pay US$27 a month for 960/128 DSL service for myself than to pay for shared access in condo fees/rent. Even just 3 people sharing that bandwidth at the same time would annoy me to no end.

Actually one building a few blocks away will be on a fibre optic backbone and all the units will be wired for Ethernet. They're going to have great net access I'm sure and probably good pings, but they are paying through the teeth for that. My guess is that their condo fees are going to be about US$275/mo for a 1000 sq. foot condo for everything (although it's a luxury place).