LANs & WANs
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Which is best: T-1 or cable modem?
I need to provision Internet access for a K-12 school. The usage is primarily e-mail and Web surfing, so download speed is
more important than upload speed. Our local cable company is willing to donate a cable modem connection, which in my area
is delivering about 4M bit/sec down and 500K bit/sec up My personal experience is that they have been pretty stable, but everybody
is telling me to go for a T-1 - which would be lots more money and provide slower download speeds. Any thoughts?
- Via the Internet
Cost and line speed are definitely two things that need to be considered with when it comes to any potential Internet connection. Let's look at each of the connections you're considering.:
A conventional T-1 will require some type of CSU/DSU (a special type of interface that connects the T-1 from the telco demark to the serial port on your router). You can use an internal or external CSU/DSU. Internals mean one less thing to plug in and fewer cables to worry about. Externals can be cheaper, but also have another advantage. In the event you experience a voltage or nearby lightning strike to the incoming copper carrying your T-1 service, the external CSU/DSU has the potential for acting like a fuse and possibly preventing damage to the router. With an internal CSU/DSU, the potential exists that the voltage surge could jump right from the CSU/DSU into the router and damage it. In the years I have been installing T1s, I have not had a situation in which the external CSU/DSU that took damage passed the damage onto the router. As with anything, others may have not had this type of luck. In addition to the cost of the CSU/DSU, you will also have to factor in the cost of a router and a firewall. It is possible to combine the functionality of the router and firewall into one box. With a T-1, you will have close to 1.544M bit/sec in speed up and down, assuming your ISP configures the line for that.
With a cable modem, things may be a little simpler. Most ISP-provided cable modems have a built-in Ethernet jack. This can go straight to a firewall appliance to which the remainder of your network connects on the private side. Since the local cable company is donating the cable connection (and I will assume for the purposes of this discussion the cable modem, as well), all you need to look for is a good hardware firewall appliance. In your case, I'm thinking more about an appliance than a software-based firewall (such as several open-source Linux firewall distros that boot off of a CD) to get you something you can get without relying on an Internet listserv. Since the need for the line is more internal (i.e., Web surfing and e-mail) the cable modem option might best in terms of simplicity and associated hardware costs.
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