Every once in a while one of our customers will ask, “what’s the best of the best”?  Are you done with your T-1 network?  Are you done with your microwave WAN?  You need to get educated on big, fat pipe ethernet connectivity.  MOE or Metro Optical Ethernet has been around for a number of years but only now seems to be gaining huge traction in the business community for site to site and Internet connectivity.

I am amazed at how many 20-30 employee companies still use DSL or cable for their Internet connectivity.  In addition to using ethernet between your offices you should consider using ethernet to the Internet too.  My rule of thumb for Internet use is this:

*    1-4 users, go with DSL or Cable Internet connection

*    5-15 users, go with Cable or a T-1 to the Internet

*    16-24 users, go with 3.0 Mb or 4.5 Mb bonded Internet or begin looking at 10 Mb ethernet connectivity.

*    25 and up on total users you have to be into an ethernet connection.  With this many regular, daily Internet users in your office you’ll need a fat pipe to get your work done.

With the many applications that businesses tie into today, scaling the pipes between your offices and the pipe to the Internet is critical.  Making the wrong decisions on this could make or break a quarter, and maybe a year for some businesses.  Clearly the scale I gave above will vary a bit depending upon the type of business you’re in, but it’s a great place to start for most businesses.

Some of the groups you’ll want to consider for this type of offering are:

*   Qwest QMOE offers many options to fit your budget and your bandwidth requirements.

*  AT&T offers a wide variety of ethernet in the states that they service.

*  XO Communications - One of the few CLEC’s that are beginning to master EoC (Ethernet over Copper) as a viable and well priced offering.

For additional information on WANs – here’s a post from earlier this year.  For additional questions about how ethernet can rock your connectivity, contact a carrier agnostic agency today.

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