I am in the process of researching the service level that a user or site gets when they hook up to our network via VPN. Is it all just a part of the service-level agreement? Is it more likely that ISP’s will over-provision lines and thus, VPN’s will suffer? We have Frame which is ok, but expensive- probably because of Baby Bell fame-and we also have sites incorporate Cisco 820’s that, like a VPN, uses DSL and the router encrypts and sends data to our network cloud (which in this case happensto be ATM) and funnels down to us. It would seem that what we aim to do at each site depends upon the market in that region as costs can vary widely. Hence, when faced with 3 hookup possibilities (ok best case scenario) we look closely at CIR’s- the guarantee. Many just buy the cheapest, but our sites can grow large, so quality is most important. Does anyone have any comments on this? Seems as though ISP’s will over-provision and VPN quality cannot be guaranteed. Anybody give me any thoughts on what to ask telco’s? ISP’s? Stories? How does the customer know that the provider is keeping to the CIR- guarantee that the bandwidth will not go below the CIR rate- that is in the contract? Is there software available for this purpose? Any comment welcomed!