What is T1?
T1 is an established professional grade of Internet line service. It is always on and may be shared by everyone in the same office or within a school, housing development or apartment building. It runs at 1.544 Mbps, fast enough for 24 simultaneous users. T1 is what is called a dedicated service. It is 100% dedicated to whoever buys the service. It can also be provisioned with a service level agreement that guarantees the reliability of your Internet service.
T1 is a member of the T-carrier system. T-carrier is a communications system used for carrying voice and data transmissions in a digital format. T1 meets the needs of businesses having multiple users on a system requiring fast speed and broad bandwidth. For a fixed monthly rate, businesses with 20 or more users can communicate via both voice and data. A Full T1 can accommodate as many as 24 users working at 64 Kbps.
Any kind of leased line that follows the standards of T1, T3's etc, is called T-carriers.
T1, also spelled T-1, stands for Trunk Level 1. It is a digital transmission link with a total signaling speed of 1.544 Mbps (1,544,000 bits per second). T1 is a standard for digital transmission in North America—the United States and Canada. It is part of a hierarchy of digital transmission pipes known generically as the DS (Digital Signal Level) hierarchy. T1 equates to DS1 in the DS hierarchy.
T Carrier is a generic name for any of several digitally multiplexed carrier systems. T Carrier systems were originally designed to transmit digitized voice signals. Current applications also include digital data transmission. T1 and T3 are the most popular T Carrier links used in United States and Canada. E1 and E3 are similar links used in Europe. The North American and European versions differ somewhat in the transmission rates and signaling protocols used. The "T" in T Carrier stands for "Trunk". If an "F" precedes the "T", it refers to an optical fiber cable system, but at the same speeds.
A T1, or DS1 line, is a private dedicated line that goes directly from your office or business to your Internet Service Provider (ISP), providing transmission at 1.544 Mbps, roughly 60 times more data than a normal residential modem. It is also extremely reliable, much more reliable than an analog modem.
Unlike Cable Internet, ISDN (integrated services digital network) or a Dialup connection, a T1 line provides guaranteed bandwidth, since the line is not shared with other users. The T1/DS1 standard is used in the North American and Japanese marketplaces.
For voice and data, a T1 line can carry 24 digitized voice channels, or it can carry data at a rate of 1.544 megabits per second. If the T1 line is being used for telephone conversations, it plugs into the office's phone system. If it is carrying data it plugs into the network's router.
