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Ethernet Over Copper is a new kind of high bandwidth internet connection which will range from 5-30Mb. There will inevitably be many comparisons to cable, DSL, bonded T1s, and fiber.
What separates this connection from DSL and Cable is a matching upload rate (a.k.a. synchronous). Cable and DSL can now offer download speeds of up to ~16Mb but their upload speeds still deliver a pokey .75-2Mb. For offices doing primarily web surfing this is fine, but for sending files, hosting web and email servers, Citrix, VPNs, SaaS, VoIP, etc you need a high bandwidth synchronous connection.
Ethernet Over Copper can also be compared to bonded T1s and fiber. Bonded T1s are great, but EOC has a major cost advantage to T1s - by the end of the year I’m expecting 5Mb EOC to run about the same cost as a 3Mb bonded T1s. 10Mb EOC will range from half to a third less than bonded T1s. Fiber still remains the buzzword for bandwidth, but few buildings are “lit” for fiber - the cost of bringing fiber to your building can be quite prohibitive.
When shopping for ethernet over copper there’s a few hidden details to consider. The first is the backbone - this is the connection back from the central office to the main metro network. Many carriers are running just dual DS3s as the backbone, meaning only 90Mbps of bandwidth shared between all subscribers. Its easy to see that if they sell 20 10Mbps connections there could be up to 200Mbps trying to fit through 90Mbps of backbone - the carrier is betting on underutilization. Other carriers are delivering service with larger backbones like dual GigE which ensures no oversubscription and ample bandwidth even if one backbone fails.
Another detail is wire pairs. Service is delivered via pairs of traditional copper wire, how many pairs will depend upon the desired speed and distance from the central office. Multiple pairs is actually a great thing - it offers redundancy as the service will remain operational (though slower) even if loops fail as long as some remain. Obviously to save money carriers could run the minimum pairs, which in some cases will mean no redundancy. Other carriers will always install extra pairs to ensure uptime.
In the coming six months we’ll see a number of major players add or expand their offerings in the ethernet over copper arena. The important thing to understand is not to just pick on cost - the point of getting a high bandwidth connection is to get high performance and reliability which some carriers will deliver better than others.
The Author: Kevin Selkowitz
About: Kevin Selkowitz is the founder and lead consultant for Selkowitz Technology, a Seattle-area small business systems consulting company. We focus on the four major technology needs of small businesses - phone systems, phone and internet service, servers/network infrastructure, and business applications.
This entry was posted by Kevin Selkowitz, on Friday, August 15th, 2008 at 8:50 pm and is filed under Phone and Internet Services. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response on the right, or trackback from your own site.
