[KLUG Members] [Fwd: Is cable Internet really worth the money? WRIPOFKQ0LKO]

[Adam Williams]

>>Don't they refer to that as Fractional T1?

Yes.

>Through my office's ISP, fractional T1's aren't even CLOSE to being worth 
>the money **cough**.  I guess my office is a bit out in BFE, but the cost 
>for me for a half-T1 is about 20% lower than a full T1 - so we just opt to 
>stay with the full. 
>128kbit Fractional T1 seems like a waste, though, as circuit prices are 
>pretty high, are they not?

It can depend entirely on your location.  We have one office where a PtP
full T1 is hundreds of dollars a month *LESS* than a fractional T1
connection to a frame cloud - weird.  

But most of our offices are connected via 256Kbps Fractional T1s stuffed
into a frame cloud - which is immensely less expensive. (About $11,500 a
month if I recall, from the lowest bid - thats $138,000 a year - an
amount the board of directors doesn't find trivial at all).

The number of circuits you have and the length of your contract have a
*HUGE* effect on pricing.  If you go out and buy 18 T1s/Fractional-T1s
you can get a rate stunningly lower than if you show up to buy one T1. 
And a 60-month contract is quite a bit cheaper than the price under a 36
month contract.  So a lot more than the circuit itself affects the
pricing.