What is a T3?

Written by: EarthWeb-Connect - Oct 13, 2008

A T3 circuit is the ideal solution for businesses that require high-bandwidth access at a reasonable price. Whether you host high-traffic web sites, support web hosting or need high-capacity bandwidth on an as-needed basis, there's a level of T3 service (Full or fractional) that will meet your needs.

A T3 (sometimes referred to as a DS3 or E3) is a leased private dedicated line that goes directly from your office to an Internet Service Provider (ISP). A T3 / DS3 connection is equivalent to 28 T1 / DS1 connections and uses digital signals on fiber-optic cable at speeds of 45 million bps (bits per second) or 44.736 megabits per second. As a standard used in the North American and Japanese marketplaces, a T3 can handle 672, 64Kbps voice conversations or one video data channel. The T3 line has enough bandwidth to transmit full-motion real-time videos and very large databases over a busy network. Generally a T3 line would be installed as a major networking channel for a large corporation or university with high volume network traffic. Bandwidth for a Fractional T3, up to a full T3, generally run at speeds between 6 Mbps through 45 Mbps. Pricing on a T3 starts around $ 3700.00/mo +/- line & port charges.

> For more information on T3s, please click here

> For Private and Leased Lines within the UK, please click here