Multilinking Across The T1-To-T3 Chasm
by Steven Taylor
Posted 10/13/2003; Published 5/2003

Abstract:

For years, enterprises have complained about the lack of incremental bandwidth services between T1 (1.5 Mbps) and T3 (45 Mbps). While the situation has improved with the availability of cable modem, xDSL and high-speed wireless services, there is still a vacuum, particularly for business customers who need service in the 3-Mbps to 20-Mbps range.

There’s been growing interest in “multilink” services—bundling multiple access services into a single virtual link. Not surprisingly, there are a variety of ways to skin the multilink cat, some proprietary to particular vendors. In general, however, there are five basic methods, each with its own strengths and weaknesses:

Which option is best? Not surprisingly, the answer is: It depends. All the options accomplish the fundamental goal; there is no overwhelming technical reason to choose one over the other. And a critical decision factor is outside your control: Which options does your service provider offer?

Ultimately, the choice of which multilink service to use comes down to personal opinions, availability and pricing. And there’s no reason why an enterprise needs to choose only one type of multilink service. Regardless of which form—or forms—you choose, one thing is clear: Multilink services will play an important role as we evolve to higher speed services.

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