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 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.