bonded T1s

[netman2k5]

we are having T1 connection to ISP now and would like to upgrade it to 6Mbps. We were told about bonded T1s link so should we use 4 each T1 links or the HSSI for future upgrade for more than 6Mbps ? anyway what does "bonded T1" mean ? Thanks in advance.

[thisisshanky]

You can use 4 T1's all bundled together using PPP multilink. But this will require you to order 3 more T1's , as well as more WICs or NM's to furnish the 4 T1's.

DS3's might be costly, as you will have to buy a DS3 CSU/DSU + the HSSI card, and a router beefy enough to support that much bandwidth. Usually DS3 ckts are sold in bundles of 3 Mbps. but you might want to consider the cost of a Frac DS3 versus 4 T1s.

What router are you using right now ?

[netman2k5]

this is what we're going to purchase:

CISCO3725 CISCO3725 2NM 3WIC 2AIM DUAL FETH RTR W/IOS S/W 1

S372AHK9-12310 Cisco 3725 Ser IOS ENTERPRISE/FW/IDS PLUS IPSEC 3DES 0.00 1

NM-2FE2W-V2 2 port 10/100 Ethernet with 2 WAN Card Slot Network Module 1

VWIC-2MFT-T1 2-Port RJ-48 Multiflex Trunk - T1 2

CAB-AC Power Cord,110V 0.00 1

Thanks for help.

[thisisshanky · Accepted solution]

I would suggest to go for the 3825, rather than 3725. Both chassis are more or less the same price. You can get the Security bundle, which comes with a VPN accelerator. The rest looks good to me.

[netman2k5]

thank you very much.

[scottmac]

Some carriers are now offering "Multi-Link Frame Relay" (MLFR) which will allow you to aggregate Frame-Relay links to accomplish an apparent bandwidth gain.

There's also IMA, which is based on ATM (IMA = Inverse Mux Over ATM) ... more complex and the hardware is generally more expensive.

With Milti-Link PPP, you have X number of dedicated lines bundled together ... also tends to be more expensive than MLFR because it's dedicated bandwidth per T1.

MLFR would be a good option, if your carrier supports it.

FWIW

Scott