We have been using DSL for the last year with Netopia routers to provide Internet access and ATM tunnels between three offices. ISP problems have prompted us to look for other options — we’re one of those caught in the Zyan fiasco, among other things.
So I’ve spoken to a three companies that offer Frame Relay connections and/or T1 lines. We’re too small to make a T1 feasible, but we would spend a premium over our current DSL costs for something more robust and secure. Best we can do without getting exorbitant, however, is a 128k Frame Relay, or possibly 192k.
So my question, having never used Frame Relay, is this: Will users notice a measurable difference in speed between our current DSL lines (generally 768k or 786k lines) and a 128k or 192k Frame Relay? The sales folks suggest that for our purposes, there might not be much of a difference. In theory I realize that might be true, but I’m looking for real-world experiences.
A second question concerns the network setup. I was thinking of having just one Internet port in the main office, and connecting the branch offices by WAN. With a major national provider with a good backbone (e.g., MCI), will users in the branch offices even notice that they’re going through us for Internet access?
Anything I’m missing? Any other suggestions for building a cost-effective and reliable WAN? My fallback position is just to go with another DSL provider for all three offices, probably at 768k.
Specifics: We haveoffices in two states (big Western ones), with about 22 employees all told who might be using these connections at any one time. For email, we outsource it, getting POP mail from our webhosting service. Thanks in advance.