What Is A T1 Line

By Sharon Taylor


The T1 line allows both data and voice connections to be transmitted on a single line. If the main purpose of the connection is for telephony then a maximum of 24 simultaneous voice calls is allowed. For data use, 1.544 megabits per second (MBPS) maximum bandwidth can be utilized. The line is clearly not intended for personal or home use. It is too expensive for such an application. There are cheap but fast services that are available for domestic connections. Examples of these are DSL and broadband cable. The slower upload speed for both DSL and cable connections makes them more affordable.

A very fast clock called a stratum clock is the reason why the connection is capable of handling 24 voice connections. The clock is used to drive a very fast switch called a multiplexer. What the multiplexer does is that it assigns a portion of the digitized voice call exclusive use of the connection for a very short time. Then it cycles to the next voice channel. So in reality there really is no simultaneous voice connection.

A lot of reasons are behind the higher cost of a T1 connection compared to cable or DSL. One of them is the similar upload and download speed of the connection at 1.544 MBPS. The main reason actually is that the connection is a dedicated connection. Since regular phone lines are only in use when someone is using it for telephone calls, the line is thus shared by many subscribers. Being a dedicated connection implies that the line can only be used by one subscriber.

While it is true that a subscriber has exclusive use of the connection, he may wish not to get the full 1.544 MBS bandwidth. But if we wish to get the full pipeline, the provider will charge him for burst connections. This way he can make use of the connection's full bandwidth. This type of service is called burstable T1 service.

A full T1 service is a contract where the customer receives the full 1.544 bandwidth for both uploading and downloading. This type of connection is also called as a digital trunk line. There are other connection schemes that allow a customer to maximize connection costs. Such examples are channelized and fractional connections.

The connection uses two pairs of twisted copper cables. One pair makes it possible for a full 1.544 MBPS download connection while the other pair is used for uploading at a similar rate of 1.544 MBPS. This is the reason why this connection has similar speeds for downloading and uploading .

The copper wire is still the most common medium for T1 connections but is being rapidly replaced with modern fiber optic cables. Fiber optics are clearly able to transmit more than 1.544 MBPS of data but can be considered as T1 when the connection contract specifies 1.544 MBPS rate.

The flexibility of a T1 connection makes it ideal for business use. Part of the 1.544 MBPS bandwidth could be assigned to voice calls while the rest could be assigned for connecting to the internet . The high upload speeds allows many business to host their own web servers. While there are a lot of connections for business connectivity, the widespread implementation of a T1 line makes it a cost effective solution for small and medium enterprises.




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