100 x 100 Mbps Business Bandwidth Options

Bandwidth levels of 100 Mbps are no longer a luxury for many businesses. You need that much to backup files remotely, access cloud applications, distribute content and share large files such as high resolution medical images. Traditional bandwidth services like T1 lines or DS3 connections don’t come close to meeting this requirement. What does and can you afford it?

The traditional service that supports this capacity is OC-3 SONET fiber optic bandwidth. Larger companies have used OC-3 for decades. What’s limited the number of companies that install this service has been high costs, at least in past years.

If you haven’t checked prices in a decade or even the last few years, you’re in for a pleasant surprise. OC-3 prices have plunged from the astronomical levels of years ago to something well within reason today. Medium size businesses and medical organizations, and many smaller high tech businesses where high bandwidth is essential, can now afford OC-3 bandwidth... but should they?

Besides the cost reductions for telecom services, something else has happened recently to give businesses options for 100 Mbps bandwidth. It’s the rise of competitive technology. Decades ago, it was OC-3 or nothing at all. Today, that is just one of several services that can get the job done. Let’s take a look at what else is available.

The biggest competition to SONET fiber optic services is now Ethernet over Fiber. The fiber optic pipes are the same. The signal that they are transporting is different. For you as a business owner or IT manager this makes no difference in the end. Both SONET and Ethernet technologies can carry the same traffic from place to place or to and from the Internet. However Ethernet has some advantages you should know about.

The most important is cost. Much of this is due to competition and some to the way networks are constructed. SONET is a telephone company developed technology. There is almost always a telephone company involved in delivering SONET. It might be for the entire span. Often, the last mile is handled by the local telco and the rest is provided by a competitive carrier.

Ethernet is different. Ethernet came out of the computer industry. It had nothing to do with telephones. In fact, Ethernet really gained prominence as a LAN, not a telecom, technology. It still forms the basis of nearly every installed local network. While the traditional local and long distance telephone companies have added Ethernet to their portfolios, other carriers have started up to gain share in this marketplace. Many built their networks around delivering Ethernet services and don’t even offer SONET.

One thing that’s different about Ethernet over Fiber is that the competitive carrier may handle service throughout the entire network. That includes the connection into your building. Multi-tenant office buildings are especially attractive because there is more than one customer to make it worthwhile to construct the fiber drop and termination equipment. Competitive carriers are aggressive about finding and connecting business locations before someone beats them to it. This helps to hold down prices for everyone in the industry... to your advantage.

Another approach to bandwidth delivery is to eliminate the wires altogether. That’s the domain of the microwave wireless companies. If you are in the right location, you may be able to get 100 Mbps bandwidth over a radio beam to a small antenna on your rooftop.

What’s the right location? It’s almost always in the downtown business district of a major metropolitan area. The microwave transmissions are strictly line of sight and limited in distance to a few kilometers. This means that there needs to be nothing but air between your building and the provider’s tower. For financial services companies, corporation headquarters and other downtown locations, this may be no problem at all. If so, you may be able to get the bandwidth you need installed very rapidly with little or no construction cost.

All of these services are also known as symmetrical dedicated bandwidth. OC-3 is actually 155 Mbps. Fast Ethernet is 100 Mbps with many other service levels available. The symmetrical part means that the upload and download speeds are the same. 100 x 100 Mbps means 100 Mbps upload and 100 Mbps download. Dedicated means that the bandwidth is constructed for your use only. Whatever you don’t use sits idle until you do.

Some companies don’t need this level of performance, especially if all they want to do is access the Internet the way you would at home. These companies can save even more money by going with an asymmetrical shared bandwidth service. As example would be a coaxial cable connection that offers up to 100 Mbps download and 10 Mbps upload speeds. Your actual speed at any given time depends on what other users are doing because the bandwidth is in a pool shared by multiple subscribers.

Are you feeling pressed for increased bandwidth but concerned about price and availability? You may have more options than you suspect. Get prices and availability for high bandwidth providers that service your business location.

Fiber Optic Service FAQ, Part 3

Here are more frequently asked questions and answers about fiber optic service for your business You may also be interested in the first and second lists of fiber FAQs.

Q: What is a lit building?

A: This is a building that already has fiber installed and “lit” for service. Usually only a single carrier lights each building. If your building is lit, you can easily get bandwidth services from that carrier.

Q: What are wavelength services?

A: A wavelength or Lambda is a particular color of laser light that carries the signal through the optical fiber. Early fiber systems used only a single light beam. Today, multiple beams travel the same fiber strand using a process called WDM or Wavelength Division Multiplexing. You can lease an entire wavelength for your exclusive use if you wish.

Q: Why would you lease a wavelength rather than just buying bandwidth?

A: Leasing a wavelength gives you high bandwidth dedicated to your use. Typically each wavelength supports 10 Gbps. You can decide whether to use SONET, Ethernet or some other protocol over the wavelength because the service does not share traffic with other users.

Q: What is dark fiber?

A: This refers to fiber strands that have been installed but not lit for service. Most fiber optic cable has dozens or hundreds of fiber strands all bundled together. Carriers that have extra strands they aren’t using will often lease them to other carriers or businesses that need the capacity.

Q: What’s the advantage of dark fiber?

A: Bandwidth is nearly unlimited and security is high because there is no traffic on the fiber strand other that what you provide.

Q: What protocols does dark fiber support?

A: Anything you can generate, including SONET, Ethernet, Fibre Channel and others. By using Wavelength Division Multiplexing, you can assign a different protocol to each wavelength and they won’t interact.

Q: Why wouldn’t you select dark fiber?

A: You’ll need to provide the termination equipment at each end, which can be rather expensive. On wavelength and other bandwidth services the carrier does this. Also, there may not be any dark fiber available on the route you have in mind.

Q: How does fiber support cloud services?

A: Cloud communications are bandwidth intensive. All the traffic that used to run to your in-house data center now goes over a WAN (Wide Area Network) connection to the cloud. You need high bandwidth and low latency connections for this to work properly, just what fiber is good at.

Is fiber bandwidth service the right solution to your business needs? Compare costs and service options for the fiber optic service options available for your business locations.


You may also be interested in reading Fiber Optic Service FAQs, Part 1 and Part 2.

Fiber Optic Service FAQ, Part 2

Here are some more frequently asked questions and answers about fiber optic service for your business You may also be interested in the first list of fiber FAQs.

Q: What types of services are available over Ethernet fiber?

A: The Metro Ethernet Forum has standardized three popular services that are of interest to business users. Ethernet Private Line or E-Line is a dedicated point to point connection between two business locations or from your location to the Internet. Ethernet LAN or E-LAN provides a meshed network service that interconnects multiple locations. Ethernet Tree or E-Tree is a one to many connection popular with companies that distribute content to many subscribers.

Q: How do you connect multiple location LANs together

A: E-Line and E-LAN can do this easily. E-Line is appropriate for two locations to connect as a single bridged network. E-LAN makes sense for 3 or more locations, even those located internationally. E-LAN can make many separate LANs work like they are one larger network.

Q: What is Ethernet over SONET?

A: Most Ethernet providers offer a “native” Ethernet that powers their entire network. If you are in a location that can only get SONET, some carriers offer Ethernet that runs over the SONET fiber. From your prospective, this is the same as any other Ethernet over Fiber.

Q: Can Ethernet carriers interconnect?

A: Yes. The equipment that does this is called E-NNI or Ethernet Network to Network Interface. It allows service providers to seamlessly transfer network traffic back and forth. This allows both carriers to expand their service footprints to wider geographical areas.

Q: What are low latency fiber routes?

A: Most fiber networks strive to minimize latency or time delay between locations. Those advertised specifically as low latency routes are specially engineered to minimize the fiber route length using the straightest path available. They also minimize equipment along the route that can introduce additional latency. Low latency fiber services are in big demand for financial companies that deal in high speed trading.

Q: What is Metro Ethernet?

A: Metro Ethernet or MetroE is a fiber optic network that connects business and other locations within a limited geographic region, usually a single city or metropolitan area consisting of city and suburbs. MetroE connections can also connect to other locations nationally or worldwide.

Q: Does Ethernet support telephone service?

A: Ethernet is a great choice for enterprise VoIP phone service. A specialized service known as SIP Trunking connects your networked telephones or IP PBX to a distant service provider. The higher the bandwidth, the more simultaneous conversations can be supported. Traditional analog phones are better supported with analog phone lines or ISDN PRI service over T1 lines.

Q: Is Ethernet over Fiber distance limited like Ethernet over Copper?

A: No. Fiber offers unlimited transmission distance at any speed you wish. Most service providers have regional networks that serve multiple states or offer nationwide service. Some carriers connect worldwide using undersea cable between continents.

Are you interested in what fiber optic bandwidth service can do for your business? If so, get get instant online pricing up to 1 Gbps and complementary consultation with a bandwidth expert if you wish.


You may also be interested in reading Fiber Optic Service FAQs, Part 1 and Part 3.

Fiber Optic Service FAQ

Fiber optic service is rapidly taking over connections that used to be handled by twisted copper pair. Before you renew your bandwidth contract or order new service of any type, see if these FAQs help you choose the most appropriate option for your business.

Q: Why choose fiber over copper service?

A: Bandwidth requirements have escalated in recent years. At the same time fiber pricing has been dropping dramatically. You may well find higher bandwidth available over fiber than you can get with copper lines and for a comparable price.

Q: What bandwidth levels are typically available.

A. Fiber optic service for business locations ranges from 10 Mbps on up to 10 Gbps. Copper options are readily available from 1.5 Mbps to 10 Mbps and sometimes available up to 50 or 100 Mbps. It all depends on how far you are located from the telco office where your copper cable terminates.

Q: Isn’t fiber service hard to get and expensive to install?

A: Not so much anymore. Competitive carriers are rapidly expanding their service footprints and looking to add customers, especially in multi-tenant office buildings. There may well be fiber located nearby that would cost little or nothing to install. In rural areas, that’s not as likely other than for cellular towers where fiber bandwidth is becoming a requirement to support 4G LTE.

Q: What’s the difference between SONET and Ethernet over Fiber?

A: They are two technologies that both use optical fibers for transport. SONET is an older standard developed by the telephone companies. You connect to a provider’s edge router or a specialized interface module for your own router. Ethernet over Fiber (EoF) uses the standard Ethernet protocol extended for long haul transport and carrier operations. EoF is a fairly recent development that is expanding rapidly worldwide. Ethernet pricing is generally much less than equivalent SONET service if it is available.

Q: What SONET service levels are available?

A: There are discrete OC or Optical Carrier service levels that include OC-3 at 155 Mbps, OC-12 at 622 Mbps, OC-24 at 1.2 Gbps, OC-48 at 2.4 Gbps, OC-192 at 10 Gbps and, rarely, OC-768 at 40 Gbps.

Q: What Ethernet over Fiber service levels are available?

A: Ethernet was designed to be scalable, so you can get nearly any bandwidth you want in small increments. Popular service levels are 10 Mbps equivalent to standard 10 Mbps LAN Ethernet, 100 Mbps Fast Ethernet, 1 Gbps Gigabit Ethernet and 10 Gbps 10 GigE.

Q: How do SONET and Ethernet interfaces differ?

A: SONET uses a specific interface card for each service level. Ethernet installations provide a port with a maximum speed and standard copper or fiber Ethernet jack. For instance, a Gigabit Ethernet port that is typically installed can support any bandwidth from 10 Mbps to 1000 Mbps.

Q: If Ethernet is more scalable and less expensive, why choose SONET?

A: Usually the answer is availability. SONET has been around a lot longer than Ethernet and may already be installed in your building or on lines that run nearby. If you have a specialized application, like high volume channelized telephone trunking, SONET is the logical choice. For dedicated Internet access or point to point private lines, either will do.

Would you like to see what fiber optic service options are available for your business location? If so, get instant online pricing up to 1 Gbps and complementary consultation with a bandwidth expert if you wish.


You may also be interested in reading Fiber Optic Service FAQs, Part 2 and Part 3.

FastE Fiber as MetroE for Business Ethernet Service

Business bandwidth demands are not only rising, but rising fast. What’s a good solution for fast data transfer? Fast Ethernet is an excellent option. It is readily available and affordable over fiber optic connections nationwide. Let’s take a closer look at how FastE works and how it fits into your bandwidth strategy.

Chances are that you’ve been using Fast Ethernet or FastE for years on your own network. Fast Ethernet is another name for 100 Mbps Ethernet. Standard Ethernet is 10 Mbps, Fast Ethernet is 100 Mbps and Gigabit Ethernet is 1,000 Mbps. Network Interface Cards (NICs) in every device with an Ethernet jack, also called a port, support one or more of these Ethernet speeds. For instance, a 10/100 port supports Ethernet communications at 10 Mbps and also 100 Mbps. A 10/100/1000 port includes 10 Mbps, 100 Mbps and 1000 Gbps.

Nearly every computer, switch, router, modem, firewall, printer, NAS (Network Attached Storage) Disk and other network device supports 10/100 Ethernet. The 10/100/1000 spec is becoming more and more prevalent. In both cases, these devices support Fast Ethernet at 100 Mbps.

So, what doesn’t support Fast Ethernet communication? Many MAN and WAN connections come nowhere close. Clearly computer technology has accelerated faster than communications technology. Actually, support for 100 Mbps communication over long distances has been available for a long time. It’s just that you needed special interfacing and the cost was beyond what most businesses were willing to pay.

High priced proprietary data communications are a legacy of the telephone industry. Nearly every company has ordered a DSL or T1 line to be able to communicate between business locations and connect to the public Internet. The cost of those lines has fallen dramatically in recent years. Even so, the limited bandwidth is starting to become an uncomfortable constraint on even smaller operations.

What’s changed the game recently is the introduction of Carrier Ethernet services. Carrier means that you lease these lines from a service provider, a carrier, rather than stringing the wires yourself. Any connection that goes beyond your property is handled by carriers. At one time the only carrier available was the local telephone company. Deregulation has allowed other service providers, called competitive carriers, to enter the marketplace and compete on technology and price.

Carrier Ethernet is one of those competitive services, although you’ll now find it offered by incumbent as well as competitive carriers. What’s allowed Carrier Ethernet to grow by leaps and bounds is standardization by an industry group called the MEF or Metro Ethernet Forum. Any provider that meets the MEF standards will be compatible with Carrier Ethernet equipment and interconnection with other provider networks.

Fast Ethernet is one of the Carrier Ethernet services you can order in both metropolitan and long haul connections. These are known as MAN or Metropolitan Area Networks and WAN or Wide Area Networks. The difference is really one of scale. The MAN serves a local geographical area that includes a city and surrounding suburbs. The WAN joins cities and may cross state and national borders. International WANs use undersea fiber to link far-flung destinations worldwide.

Metro networks based on Ethernet rather than the older SONET technology are sometimes referred to as MEN or Metro Ethernet Networks. You’ll hear them referred to as MetroE networks. These networks are almost always based on fiber optic rather than copper lines. Increasingly, so are the connections to the network. It’s fiber all the way for FastE and above.

What kind of connection can you make to a MetroE network. One of the most popular is the Fast Ethernet or FastE connection at 100 Mbps. Another popular service level is GigE at 1000 Mbps. What’s just emerging now as a business service level is 10 GigE at 10000 Mbps or 10 Gbps.

Going Ethernet all the way through your network, across the metro or wide area networks and to another LAN at the far end, has some real benefits. The interface is trivially easy. Your handoff from the carrier is a standard fiber or copper Ethernet jack. You’ll also be able to order both point to point connections called E-Line and meshed multi-location connections called E-LAN. Don’t think that you are stuck with only the standard Ethernet speeds either. You can generally get many increments between 10, 100, 1000 and 10000 Mbps.

The biggest advantage of all is cost savings. You’ll pay far less per Mbps for Ethernet than other services. The difference is sometimes half as much for Ethernet as SONET or other telecom services. This easily allows you to afford the bandwidth you really need for today’s communication-intensive applications such as cloud services.

Is your business bandwidth constrained? No need to be stuck at low copper technology speeds when fiber connections to high bandwidth metro and wide area networks are available and affordable. Check now for bandwidth services and prices available for your business location.