sundance-communications.com/forum Forums Wiring - Telecom Carriers - Trunks & Services T1's, CSU's and DSU's Speed vs bandwidth?

Is there a difference between speed and bandwidth?
We are using 2 Verizon T1s for internet access. Getting peak utilization all the time. What is the best way for me to get more traffic. More T1s? Planning to leave Verizon as they... well, maybe I shouldn't get into it. Not happy with them. Deltacom can give me 2 T1s at a very good price. Then someone asked why we wouldn't use a BellSouth MetroE (MetroEthernet) circuit like we currently use for data between our offices around town.
The T1s are 1.5 Mbits. The MetroE are configured as either 10MB (megabytes) or 100MB. Does that mean the "speed" of the T1 is like 1.5 compared to 100 of the MetroE? Help.

I would assume the MetroE would be a point to point connection. The MetroE connection probably does not allow you access to the "internet". As I've never heard of it I'm not going to say one way or the other.

[email protected]:1619001 bps

100MB network connection: 838,860,800 bps

1MegaByte=1,048,576 bytes
1Megabit+ 1,048,576 bits
1Byte= 8bits

Richard,
It's easy to get bandwidth and speed confused.

In simple terms, the speed "depends" on the bandwidth.

Bandwidth is simply the "amount" of data that can be transmitted across a digital circuit within a specific amount of time. It's measured in bits per second(bps). Therefore, the higher the bandwidth, the "faster" (there's where your reference to "speed" comes in) that your data can be transferred.

Here's an example:
An ISDN BRI provides up to 128kbps of bandwidth (2 x 64kb for voice) or a "combined" 128kb for data.

Customer A wants a 128kbps BRI for their VTC circuit.

Customer B wants three separate 128kbps BRIs for their VTC (enabling them a combined (bonded) bandwidth of 384kbps for their VTC.

Since customer B's circuit has 3 times the bandwidth, their data can be transferred at 3 times the "speed" as customer A.

As far as Metro-Ethernet services, from what I know, you can request additional bandwidth incrementally, e.g., in 1 Mbps increments.

I believe MetroE can get you internet. Mohave Community College has three campuses in different cities. (two out-of-state). They are all connected together by t-1. However, they connect to the internet through the main campus to Frontier Communications using a MetroE line.

I don't think the MetroE are considered pt to pt. BellSouth can provide a "6 Mb (NxT1)" circuit to access the internet. They also noted it would be a "private line". As opposed to sharing it with other people?

Thinking out loud..

If the MetroE circuits (which to be clear are megabits not bytes) are not private it's like the Comcast internet connection at my house where it can be very fast if I'm the only one on it, or very slow if everyone in the neighborhood jumped on and started downloading pictures of Britney and Paris?

You're referring to "burstable" type T1s. A burstable T1 is a 1.54Mbps full duplex connection to the Internet that cannot always deliver the full rated speed, usually due to traffic congestion. Many times you will find that what you bought as a "guaranteed full T1" is actually a burstable or shared T1 and only runs 1.54Mbps from your business to your ISP where the "bottleneck" begins.

MetroE can be provided in point-to-point or multi-point to multi-point configurations. Here\'s a nice overview on MetroE.