A t3 connection is a point-to-point dedicated line that provides 672 64-Kbps voice or data channels or in other words 28 T1 lines. A T3 is used to transmit digital signals at 44.736 megabits per second and has enough bandwidth to transmit full-motion real-time video, and very large databases over a busy network. A T3 line would be installed as a major networking channel for a large corporation or university with high volume network traffic.

When you need more capacity, you often have to buy it in the next available increment, which may end up costing more than you want or can afford to spend. Worse yet, with current, "bursty" application requirements, the need for additional bandwidth can often be as temporary as it is critical. By providing flexible capacity, or "bandwidth on demand," service providers can help customers deal with variations in traffic, and with avoiding a high fixed monthly payment. True bandwidth-on-demand services should allow for a wide range in capacity.

Although anybody can purchase a burstable T3, this type of connection can be costly, even as costly as a full 45Mbps connections. Burstable lines can be found at their lowest cost at a colocation facility. At a colocation facility, or "colo", many users share a large OC3 or OC12 pipe. As a customer you will not have to pay for a the fixed cost of such a large pipe, but will have the benefit of being able to burst up to very high speeds if necessary. If you need the reliability of a large pipe fur busty traffic but don't have the capital consider a colo. If you have a steady volume and are consistent, you may consider keeping services in house and going with a T3 connection. Whether you're considering a colocations facility or a T3 to the door, make sure you use a broker to help guide you through the providers and plans available.

Is it time to upgrade to a T1? There are several factors to consider when examining you current DSL connection and the possiblity of replacing it. For many people the biggest factor is reliability and if reliability is critical to the applications you run over your connection you should seriously consider replacing your DSL connection with a T1. DSL is a quick and cost effective method of acquiring high speed bandwidth however it is not intended to support commercial applications or large numbers of users as is a T1 connections.

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.

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 circuit unless then have a business reason to pay for such a circuit and cannot access DSL service. Most people don't realize that a DSL connection can be just as fast as a T1 at 1.5Mbps. The shortcoming of DSL is that it is oversubscribed. This means there is a finite amount of bandwidth available and a customers speed can drop if other customers in the neighborhood decide to use their service. SDSL (Synchronous DSL) is a business class DSL and is ranked as a higher priority than residential DSL or ADSL (Asunchronous DSL). This means it is not oversubscribed to the extent than ADSL and is subject to fewer bandwidth restrictions. In short, if price is your critical factor go with DSL. If reliability is the critical factor purchase a dedicated T1.