With the drop in the economy since 1999 came a drop in usage of network capacity. This spells opportunity for broadband buyers. Carriers are bending over backward trying to get people to use their networks. A few years ago hardware was something you had to worry about yourself. Today, most service providers are willing to throw in a t1 router valued between $750 to $3,000 with your new service contract. Providers have become extremely competetive and one of the ways they are trying to attract customers is by making the start-up process as simple as possible.

Service providers have tried many different methods of attracting customers and simplifying the start-up process. Credit checks have been simplified, application paperwork been reduced in size, and there are increasingly discounts available for new customers. The free router when from a special promotion offered to increase month end sales to becoming a standard part of the product offering. It is now the exception to the norm to find providers that do not offer a router with their service.

If you're in the market for a new T1 service be aware that you should be able to get a router with your service. If the provider does not offer this service don't be afraid to ask for it and if they do offer it make sure you get the best router possible. Remember, it's a buyers market and you will likely be able to add on a few "extra" when you get your new service. The best way to ensurethat you aren't leaving anything on the table is use a broker who knows the service providers and knows how to get you as much as possible. Consider using one of the brokers at ShopforT1.com.

If a full T1 isn't in your budget, you need to consider a fractional t1 line. Why not get all the advantages of T1 even if your not in a market for a full T1? For many people the biggest factor in their decision is reliability and if reliability is critical to the applications you run over your connection you should seriously consider replacing your DSL connection with a fractional T1. DSL is a quick and cost effective method of acquiring high speed bandwidth however it is not intended to support commercial applications or large numbers of users as are T1 connections.

One drawback to fractional T1 service is the price. Even though you won't have a full T1 you will be paying quite a bit more than you did for your DSL connection. This is due to the structure of T1 pricing. A T1 connections is established by providing a "loop" or wire from the users premesis to the CO where the service provider has equipment. Part of the cost of a T1 is the "loop charge" or the monthly rental fee for the wire that is rented from the local phone company. Once the connection reaches the CO it can access the carriers network and reach any destination. This loop is paid in full whether you use a fraction of the available bandwidth or the full 1.5Mbps and therefore your price for a 768Kbps fractional T1 connection will never be half the price of a 1.5mbps full T1 connection.

Although the price reduction is not what you might expect it to be, this may put a T1 in your budget and be a great way to get dedicated service into your building. Once you have fractional service upgrading to full service is easy. Fractional service typically comes in 256Kbps increments from 256Kbps all the way to a full T1 at 1.5Mbps. Find the service that's right for you, but if you are supporting critical services think reliability. Reliability becomes critical when customers or employees depend on your connection for immediate responses. If your customers use your connection to access your databases or your server or the internet then reliability of your connection is critical. If your employees depend on your connections because you host the e-mail server in house or host web servers or ASP type products, your connections is considered critical. A critical connection can be viewed much like a lifeline, without which your business would be negatively impacted.