Is a T1 connection better than a DSL connection? A more appropriate questions might be "Is a T1 connection MORE APPROPRIATE than a DSL connections. A T1 connection and DSL connection both offer bandwidth at high speed but have two factors that greatly differentiate them from one another. Those factors are price and realiability. A DSL connection has a low price and is less reliable than a T1 connection. A T1 is much more expensive than a DSL connection but is also much more reliable.

So are you looking for reliablity or price? Reliability becomes critical when customers or employees depend on your connection for immediate responses. If your customers use your connection to access your databases or your server or the internet then reliability of your connection is critical. If your employees depend on your connections because you host the e-mail server in house or host web servers, your connections is considered critical. A critical connection can be viewed much like a life line, without which your business would be negatively impacted. Your monthly savings of having a sub-par connections will not make up for the loss in productivity of your employees or loss of customers when your DSL connections gets bogged down or cut off. To reiterate, ciritcal connections should be supported with a T1 connection.

Many customers are extremely price sensitive and cannot afford the cost of a T1 which can be as much as 20 times more expensive than a full T1 connection. Residential customers who are most sensitive to price should not consider a T1 connection unless then have a business reason to pay for such a circuit and cannot access DSL service. You may get lucky and find a T1 connections that is low cost which would give you both price and realiability but be careful. Many T1's sold for less than $600 are not truely dedicated circuits and are oversubcribed. In short, if price is your critical factor go with DSL. If reliability is the critical factor purchase a dedicated T1.

While some people may enjoy a trip to the local shopping mall, shopping for telecommunication services like a T1 line has never been fun. If you happen to be looking for a dedicated voice line you may call the local phone company. Chances are you'll be passed around to three or four different people who can't handle your request for a T1 line. When you finally speak with someone who can answer your questions you'll go through a litany of questions that don't get to the point of your call which is, "How much do I have to pay".

A step up from a call to the local phone company is the use of a broker or agent. An independent agent can help reduce the number of phone calls by asking you the questions once and searching through multiple providers to get the service that is right for you. The agent helps steer clear of the bias you will receive when speaking with one vendor as the agent will be paid no matter which service you choose. If you happen to be searching for a dedicated voice T1, the agent will give you quotes for dedicated voice T1's for multiple service providers. Still, the agent has a shortcoming in that there is typically a delay between the time you have your conversation and the time you get your information. This can take a day or two.

Why not have the best of both worlds? An agent who carried no bias for one particular carrier AND immediate feedback! While this was not possible a few months ago, we have found a T1 line provider than can offer real-time quotes through its agents. A real time quote give you information NOW. There is no waiting to find pricing. Simply enter your information and compare pricing immediately. Real time pricing will do for telecommunications shopping what Expedia and Travelocity did for travel. So why wait? If you're searching for a T1 line make sure you use a broker that can help you with your search in real time.