ISP Availability

Transition

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jan 18, 2005
Messages
181
So we're moving our business here into a larger facility in a more densely populated area in an upscale tech-savvy city. I didn't really think internet access would be an issue as this commercial area has been established for 30 years and supports a lot of tech oriented businesses (there is an ISP 1 block away - http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&aq=&sll=42.762634,-95.383994&sspn=19.40771,19.313965&ie=UTF8&hq=&t=h&ll=44.872994,-93.402886&spn=0.018309,0.027037&z=16).

I've called up ~7 ISP's and the BEST service i can get in the area is a 3mbps DSL line? Apparently Qwest owns the copper in the area and the nearest station is ~11,000 ft away. Comcast owns the cable in the area but they are 1/2 mile away with no intent of moving closer. According to the ISP that is 1 block away Qwest pulled out a lot of the copper and replaced it with fiber, although the fiber doesn't go to our building either. So now i'm stuck with a 3 down / 1 up DSL line or buying multiple T1's which doesn't seem cost effective at all.

Anyone have any ideas of strategies i'm missing? It seems pretty backwards that in this type of area I can't get decent service.
 
As bad as it may be, T1's are still the basic standard for telco connections. Hopefully this changes soon, have you seen if you can get fast ethernet from anyone like Cogent (They may be only in my area). Normally is a T1 services the building you can get some decent connections but they cost a lot.

When you say comcast is 1/2 mile away do you mean their closest cable is 1/2 mile away and they want to charge you to run it to the building?
 
have you ever though going wireless route? I know it sounds stupid but I would get cable at one building then shooting that connection over to the other building via wireless.
 
I'd call them up and ask about ethernet. Going to be a bit more the a standard dsl/cable setup but still cheaper then bonded T1's.
 
In your case I would look to fiber / ethernet. In our office park we can't get time warner even though you can go across the street and get it without issue. We opted to go with frontier's MetroE service and get 10/10 with the ability to crank that up to 100/100 in 5mb increments. Now our 10/10 line does cost >$1,000 a month, however it is a lot better then 7/1 DSL.
 
We went from 4 bonded T1 lines (6mb for the math challenged) at about $1,200 a month to a 30/30mb Fiber connection for $500 a month. It's quite nice I must say. Same ISP on a 5 year agreement.
 
We went from 4 bonded T1 lines (6mb for the math challenged) at about $1,200 a month to a 30/30mb Fiber connection for $500 a month. It's quite nice I must say. Same ISP on a 5 year agreement.

Sounds a lot like one of my clients. Came off bonded T1s to an XO fiber line and is getting massive speed for nothing. I really wish that provider had fiber in my neck of the woods cus I would have them out in a heartbeat.
 
You can get 150/150 business lines to my house for $300. : / lolfios.

Hopefully they start cutting T1, so dumb to see the prices for such lack of bandwidth.
 
You're not paying for the bandwidth on a T1, most of the cost is associated with tariffs which IMO are pretty justified when you look at how different the underlying technology for the two and the service levels that are generally associated with the two.
 
You're not paying for the bandwidth on a T1, most of the cost is associated with tariffs which IMO are pretty justified when you look at how different the underlying technology for the two and the service levels that are generally associated with the two.

To be honest, I will take a little extra latency and 10x the bandwidth any day regardless of cost.
 
To be honest, I will take a little extra latency and 10x the bandwidth any day regardless of cost.

I will too, however there are still some applications where a T1 works well due to the fact it's circuit switched as opposed to packet switched.
 
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