Ever used a t1 internet connection? Upgrading to this level of service is like going from an old used car to a new sports car. You'll feel the speed imediately! While both T1 and DSL connections claim to have a speed of 1.5Mbps, the former actually delivers it's claim. DSL and cable connections are severely oversubcribed and cannot always deliver the bandwidht they project expecially at peak hours. Ready to feel the difference? You may have already if your office has critical applications that use the web. If your office hosts e-mail, webservers or more than 20 people on internet access you most likely already have a dedicated T1 connection. If not, get one fast!!

A T1 internet connection is ideal because of it's reliability. Not only is it not oversubscribed, it also has low latency which mean fewer delays. Latency becomes critical in applicaions like video on demand, webconferencing, and gaming. While the latter may not seem so important, gamers require some of the best internet connections and are a good source for information on the top internet products available.

If you're ready to move into the fast lane or to put your office on a reliable connection that you should have anyway, get some advise from a broker that deals in T1 services. Brokers don't mark up the price of services. They offer the same price you would get if you did go direct to the company. The advantage of ordering through a broker is that you will get a second channel of customer service. If the company is not performing to expectation you will always be able to go back to your broker who puts a significant volume through the carrier. A broker is much more likely to get the companies attention and have your problem solved. In our opinion, a broker is the only way to go!

While Dave Letterman may never read this list on his show, we've created a Top 10 list of California T1 Internet Providers. In our review of service providers we considered realiabiltiy, customer support, provisioning and financial stability. In our opinion a top provider of services will have a high rating in each of the catagories. Unfortunately some of the providers we found were regional providers and may not be near you but two of them are so good you may just want to move closer to be on their network!

The top company in our survey was Telepacific. The only downside to this company is the fact that they only offer service in California and Las Vegas. Telepacific received top marks in all four or our categories and is what we recommend most to customers in California. The second carrier in our list was USLEC. Like our fist pick USLEC is a regional player offering services in the south and on the eastern seaboard. USLEC was founded and is run by engineers. These people have a passion for getting it right and keeping their customers happy. Number three on our list is New Edge Networks. New Edge is a national player found predominantly in metro areas. New Edge is large enough to be a strong player but still small enough to treat customers like a small company.

Our number four position goes to Netifice, formerly Epoch. Again, a small Tier 1 player but excellent service nationwide. Number five position goesto ACC Business. Available everywhere in the continental US, ACC used the ATT network exclusively and provides a high level of service. Positions six through ten when in the following order: Telarus, Sprint, Xspedius, PNG, and Megapath. When looking for a reliable provider you should be comfortable with any of these. Make sure you speak to your broker about the strengths and weaknesses of each carrier. While our rankings were based evenly on the four criteria mentioned at the beginning of the article you may decide that some criteria are more important to you than others. Good luck in your search.