Making the connection | ITWeb

Andy Robb, Technology specialist at Duxbury Networking.
3 Nov 2010

The market is flooded with Internet connectivity choices. For example, there are many flavours of ADSL available, linked to a variety of speeds with capped or uncapped, shaped or unshaped, network bandwidth alternatives. ADSL services are available over fibre or copper media with prices ranging from around R39 to over R4 000 a month.

The consumer is further confused by the constant evolution of 3G and 4G technologies, delivering ever-increasing speeds via a plethora of service platforms.

What's more, the 'traditional' TDM-based options – Diginet, Frame Relay and ATM – remain in the marketplace, seemingly to add complexity to the WAN 'mix'.

What is the right choice? In days gone by, connecting to the Internet was a simple task. The first choice was a dial-up connection for key people in the organisation. As more personnel needed to be online, so the corporate network evolved to include them.

Growing up

As companies grew, so the options of either Frame Relay or a 64K Diginet line appeared on the horizon. The progression to a 128K Diginet connection was obvious as demands increased. As more services were needed, the upgrade to a 256K Diginet connection became necessary. The progression was natural and seamless.

At the turn of the century, with the increase in sophistication of available services, so businesses opted for MPLS-based networks from a growing band of service providers.

But since then there has been no logical 'next step' forward. Despite a plethora of vastly improved connectivity solutions on offer, featuring new-age technologies, the way forward has been blocked by a minefield of indecision. There is little indication of what option is appropriate for a business of a definite size or an organisation with specific service requirements.


Decisions, decisions

The way forward has been blocked by a minefield of indecision. The marketplace today is characterised by confusion. For example, for most small to medium-sized businesses, the traditional leased line solutions are far too expensive. What about the new technologies? Should they opt for a 4Mb ADSL connection?

The answers are not obvious. There are issues with continuity of service as the copper cabling associated with ADSL services is subject to theft on a regular basis. What's more, no watertight service level agreements are linked to this option.

Educated guessing

In this vein – and no matter what ADSL solution companies choose – it is difficult for them to predict the reliability of the service. Today, bandwidth seems to be throttled at the most inconvenient times. Reasons are seldom given.

The same is true of the 3G solutions on the market. Even though their perceived throughput is significant compared to other technologies – for example, 21Mbps will soon be available from Cell C – the reality is that data rates often vary from hour to hour depending on the number of active subscribers addressing a particular base station, and depending on what kind of data they are pulling from the Internet.

Another drawback with 3G technologies is that they were originally designed for ad hoc use on mobile and smartphones and not as primary connectivity mechanisms capable of meeting the capacity demands of today's corporate customer.

Instead, WiMax was supposed to fill this role and represent the next step in the evolution of the WAN for the corporate market. But the technology has failed to achieve general acceptance, perhaps because networks weren't deployed fast enough, and the speeds and throughputs on offer from WiMax service providers have proven to be lower and less competitively priced.

The question on most financial directors' lips today is: “Am I getting the best bang for my buck?”

Other often-asked questions include: “Are Internet service providers giving me the best advice? Are they analysing my business requirements correctly? Are they proposing the correct solutions to my board?”

Encouraged by the service providers who seem able to conveniently side-step these key questions, companies often simply install as much connectivity as they can afford and hope for the best.

As a result, corporates tend to gain very little visibility of the services they are paying for. They need to know about the difficulties facing ADSL service providers who can't guarantee service levels because they're most likely making use of a Telkom infrastructure. They need to be aware of the challenges facing 3G service providers who are equally hamstrung by inexplicable network congestion issues.

If there is no clear best fit, it's most likely because there isn't one. Business is in the unfortunate position of having to install multiple connectivity solutions – an ADSL primary service with a 3G backup, for instance. Or a leased line with ADSL backup... or fixed point-to-point wireless backup. Or multiple ADSL services addressing various departments and remote sites...

Against this backdrop, it behoves all consumers to make the effort to come to terms with SA's connectivity vagaries – to ford the treacherous waters of WAN connectivity and try to emerge more knowledgeable and 'street-wise' as a result.