Bonding T1
Lines to Create Bigger Data Pipes
How to incrementally expand
network bandwidth as you need it.
A standard T1 line will give you 1.5 Mbps
bandwidth. This is often plenty for PBX phone, audio transport,
business Internet access, and small email and web servers. But
what if you need more bandwidth? The next readily available service
is a T3 line at 45 Mbps. That's the equivalent of 28 T1 lines.
Wouldn't it be nice if there were some choices in-between?
There are a couple of ways to combine the
capacities of T1 lines to effectively make a bigger digital line.
Some routers offer a feature called load sharing or load balancing.
They act like traffic cops to keep two or more T1 lines equally
loaded with packets.
What is Bonding?
A more standardized approach is called inverse multiplexing or
loop bonding. In multiplexing, the bit streams from a number
of different sources are combined into one transmission line.
Inverse multiplexing, or IMUX, divides traffic from a single
bit stream among multiple transmission lines.
Bonding sounds a bit like gluing a bunch
of T1 lines together, which effectively it is. Bonding is also
an acronym for an industry standards group, the Bandwidth On
Demand INteroperability Group. You can get dual bonded or x2
T1 which gives you 3 Mbps, triple bonded or x3 T1 which is 4.5
Mbps, quad bonded or x4 T1 for 6 Mbps, and sextuple or x6 bonded
T1 for 9 Mbps. A octal or x8 bonded T1 gives you 12 Mbps. Above
6 or 8 bonded T1 lines it often becomes cost effective to order
a full T3 circuit.
Bonded T1 Line Applications
What are bonded lines used for? A typical application is Internet
service for an apartment complex, subdivision or wireless ISP.
You might start out with a single T1 line as an Internet service
backbone until there are enough subscribers to require, and pay
for, additional bandwidth. Then you can bond in a second T1 for
growth. Another good use for bonded T1 lines is transmission
of very high quality audio or video signals that exceed the 1.5
Mbps bandwidth of a single T1 line but don't justify ordering
T3 service.
How about call centers and enterprises
that are converging voice and data networks. The single T1 line
that might have been adequate for Internet browsing and email
may not be able to handle the increased traffic created by the
IP phone calls. Fortunately, it's easy to bond in more bandwidth
to create a network with adequate bandwidth.
The beauty of bonding T1 lines is that
you don't have to pay for more bandwidth than you need at a particular
time. If business expands, add another T1 line or two.
High Bandwidths in the Boonies
Rural or even some subdivisions in metro areas are not wired
for fiber optic service and it may be unlikely that anyone is
going to bear that expense anytime soon. Does that mean you are
out of luck for your high bandwidth applications? No way. Copper
wire based T1 lines are available just about anywhere you can
get plain old telephone service.
Since T1 was designed to be provisioned
on two copper pairs of regular telephone wire, it's available
in smaller towns, out in the country and just about any place
you'd want to put a business. Most businesses already have multi-pair
phone cable provisioned. Use some of these to bring in bonded
T1 service up to 12 Mbps. In some remote locations, you may even
be able to justify additional T1 bonded bandwidth.
Need More Help?
For assistance with your particular enterprise network and telephony
issues and opportunities, please use our inquiry form below.
A member of our technical sales team will be in touch quickly.
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