T1 Vs DSL

T1 Line -  Rates low as $359 with loop

T1 VS DSL is the most common dilemma that most of the broadband users faces. Which one is better is hard to tell because both of them have their advantages and disadvantages that changes as we move from one scenario to other.

Both, T1 and DSL offer high speed broadband connections. It can not be judged after a seconds thought which one is better. T1's are usually enterprise grade circuits operating at a speed of 1.544 Mbps. There is no speed difference between upload and download speeds for a T1 connection. You will get a dedicated bandwidth of 1.544 Mbps no matter whether you are downloading something or uploading something.

In case of DSL, a customer can get a bandwidth of up to 7Mbps depending on its distance. If clients premises are nearer to the service provider than it gets higher speed and bandwidth which keeps on diminishing as the distance increases.

The strongest and weakest points with DSL are the speed differences in case of upload and download. DSL can support a download speed up to 7Mbps where as 1Mbps is the upper limit for uploading.

Speed of DSL also depends on its variant. There are number of DSL variants including but not limited to , RADSL, SDSL, VDSL, IDSL, HDSL etc.. All of them have advantages and disadvantages associated with their long term usage.

The most prominent difference between the two services is the downtime and response to downtime. T1 has only downtime in seconds whereas there is no such liability on DSL. People often narrate their nightmares with DSL.

Sometimes the speed of DSL is even worse than the dial up connection. The typical downtime for a T1 connection is within minutes if not seconds whereas if a DSL goes down, it is highly likely that it would be down for next 48 hours.

The initial setup cost for T1 is very high as compared to DSL but again it's the reliability that counts for most of the people not cost. If you can't afford your server to remain unavailable to remote users or your client than you can not afford a DSL connection.