T1 line very slow at work

[Hallo104]

I have a T1 line at the small school I work at (maximum of 30 computers). I ran a speed test and received a .88Mbps. I ran the same test at home and received a 4.7Mbps on a cable connection. When I ran the test at work, there were only 4 other people on a computer.

The school pays $24,000 for the T1 line. Part of that could be payment for actually running the line, I think the connection hub was 5 miles away. We are in a remote part of PA so future options could be limited.

From what I know the overall Mbps is 1.5. So if we have 10 computers on the network, does it work like this... 1.5Mbps/10 = .15 Mbps each? Is T1 that slow? I thought T1 was a good connection? Has it just become old and outdated? Why is it that 10 years ago schools with hundreds of computers ran seamlessly on T1 and we can't run a maximum of 30 computers on it now?

 

[cliffordcooley]

You should be asking your ISP these questions.

I'm not absolutely positive, but I will state my two cents. I think all the machines on the network uses what is known as timeshare. If only one machine needs access then all the bandwidth is alloted to this one machine. But if two machines need access, time is shared between the two machines. Timeshare is split between machines making data request. Once a machine is no longer sending data request, there is no need in timeshare being alloted for the machine. In other words there is no specific set speed for each machine on the network. Network traffic is controlled by how many machines are making network request at any given time.

Why is it that 10 years ago schools with hundreds of computers ran seamlessly on T1 and we can't run a maximum of 30 computers on it now?

This phenomenon you mention is the Internet evolving and requiring more bandwidth as it progresses. The Internet 10 years ago wasn't bloated with as many high bandwidth websites. Dial-up was probably still common and fully functional back then. I'd hate to even make a connection with Dial-up now, it would probably take 4 minutes, for a single web-page to render.

 

[GhostRyder]

I have a T1 line at the small school I work at (maximum of 30 computers). I ran a speed test and received a .88Mbps. I ran the same test at home and received a 4.7Mbps on a cable connection. When I ran the test at work, there were only 4 other people on a computer.

The school pays $24,000 for the T1 line. Part of that could be payment for actually running the line, I think the connection hub was 5 miles away. We are in a remote part of PA so future options could be limited.

From what I know the overall Mbps is 1.5. So if we have 10 computers on the network, does it work like this... 1.5Mbps/10 = .15 Mbps each? Is T1 that slow? I thought T1 was a good connection? Has it just become old and outdated? Why is it that 10 years ago schools with hundreds of computers ran seamlessly on T1 and we can't run a maximum of 30 computers on it now?

Ok im not totally in understanding of how T1 connections work and all, but they are supposed ot extreme speed connections for business or otherwise that have the highest speed for internet out there. They are supposed to deliver the fastest speed under any and all conditions and be the fastest possible.

I have a business friend who owns one on his home line and its lightning fast, I would talk to the service provider and see if theres some issues because I don't remember enough about T1 to give an accurate representation of it, but that does sound slow to me for a T1 line especially if your paying that much IMHO.

 

[LNCPapa]

I'm sure that price was for the run and installation. T1s are pretty slow by today's standards and are not nearly that expensive for the actual monthly service. Remember that a T3 is 28 T1 lines combined.

http://www.itquotes.com/blog/2012/04/30/t1-lines-how-much-does-a-t1-line-cost/#.UhptupKgkms

 

[Mamut0o1]

It depends on the services you are running. Usually when you have this type of setup the most this Computers are running is telnet sessions or ssh to connect to a remote host such as AS400. You need to make sure you are not transferring huge files or video; that will kill your bandwidth. Also T1 lines take errors from time to time so you need to login to the router and check for Bits erros, frame errors etc...if you see any of these errors then you should call your provider to fix the line.
Another point is internet traffic, you should have a separate ISP for internet and use T1 only for local traffic.
My two cents...

 

[DelJo63]

T1 bandwidth comes in two flavors:

• fractional T1 (see this and then this )
• dedicated T1 (see this background info )

The latter should be running at full T1 specs while the former is a pay-as-you-go / QoS throttled link.

does it work like this... 1.5Mbps/10 = .15 Mbps each?

Never - - just like that is not true on a private LAN. TCP (UDP) is a contention system and anyone uses the network without asking permission (which when fully consumed causes network collisions and sever degradation).

If you previously had great response/bandwidth and now it has degraded, suspect packet drop outs and use PATHPING XXX to discover just where (for xxx use any domain name you see with degraded performance).

 

[DelJo63]

btw:

a) test your LAN for packet issues via PATHPING your-lan-gateway-router-address​

b) test (PATHPING ) your link to your ISP connection​

c) test (PATHPING ) your link to your default DNS addresses​

timeouts in any one of these needs to be evaluated carefully