Ethernet over Copper Data Service

Traditional data service connections include T1 lines, DS3 bandwidth, OC-3 and higher level SONET fiber optic technologies. Frame Relay and MPLS networks provide nation-wide and international connectivity. So, why use Ethernet over Copper?

EoC or Ethernet over Copper is a fairly recent last mile connection technology. You don’t find coast to coast EoC being offered. If you do, it is probably implemented as a short hop to the central office, IP-based MPLS networking or Carrier Ethernet over fiber for the long haul, and then another short EoC link at the destination.

What Ethernet over Copper offers is a low cost, high performance solution to connect your business location to a larger private network or public network, such as the Internet. EoC offers the advantage of being able to repurpose existing twisted pair copper infrastructure to avoid the high cost of new fiber optic construction or line of sight limitations with high bandwidth fixed wireless solutions.

What kind of bandwidth can you expect? Low speed Ethernet lines at 2x2 Mbps or 3x3 Mbps are good replacements for T1 lines. These services are typically priced the same as a T1 line but offer higher bandwidth for the money. There are higher bandwidths available, from 5 Mbps on up to 200 Mbps.

The 2x2 designation indicates that this is a symmetrical line service. The bandwidth is 2 Mbps in both the upload and download directions. Similarly, 3x3 Mbps means 3 Mbps upload and 3 Mbps download. This differentiates Ethernet over Copper from services like DSL and Cable, which are asymmetrical. In other words, those services offer much higher download speed than upload speeds. For simple email or Web browsing activities, this isn’t critical. But if you are uploading large files or images, accessing cloud services, or managing a remote server, upload speed becomes much more important.

What is Ethernet over Copper? It differs from traditional telco-based services in that the native protocol is Ethernet rather than TDM or SONET. Ethernet has become the standard LAN protocol and the most common interface to nearly all computers and network equipment. With EoC, you connect to the network using a standard RJ-45 Ethernet connector. That’s it. There are no special interface or conversion circuit cards required.

Ethernet over Copper uses dry or unpowered local loop connections from your location to the nearest telco central office. This is standard telephone wire that isn’t being used for any other purpose. Nearly all businesses have multi-line cables with multiple twisted pairs already installed. Most of the time there are numerous spare wires in that bundle. EoC equipment uses two or more of those spare pairs to transport digital data as Ethernet packets.

The one limitation of Ethernet over Copper technology is that the bandwidth it can carry depends on distance between the EoC equipment at the central office and similar equipment at your location. Within a mile or so, you can generally get all the speed you want at a fraction of what you’ll pay for other telecom services. At you get farther away, the maximum rate decreases due to signal attenuation in the line. More than a few miles and the signal becomes unusable. That may sound like quite a limitation, but in reality most business locations are well within the range of Ethernet over Copper. The exceptions are rural businesses, and offices where the Ethernet termination equipment isn’t installed yet.

Can EoC give you the bandwidth you need at a cost savings over other solutions? Get pricing and availability for Ethernet over Copper data service connections at your business location or locations now.

Can You Believe 200 Mbps EoC?

Ethernet over Copper (EoC) technology is wildly popular as a way to get mid-band Ethernet connections without the time delay and expense of having to bring in fiber optic service. Sometimes seen as a stopgap approach, EoC now challenges fiber services on a permanent basis.

One of Ethernet over Copper’s target markets is businesses using T1 lines or new ventures looking at T1 services. T1 is a standardized, reliable and affordable telecom service that delivers 1.5 Mbps over one or two pair of twisted copper pair telco wiring. T1 is a telephone trunking technology that has been pressed into service to also carry data packets.

EoC takes on T1 by providing more bandwidth for the same money using the same twisted pair copper wires. These are leased line telco connections that are already installed in nearly all businesses and being used for telephone and perhaps Internet service.

EoC is a newer technology than T1 and more aligned with the computer networking industry than the public telephone system. More efficient modulation techniques and fierce competition from competitive service providers are what make Ethernet over Copper a real bargain for dedicated Internet service, MPLS network access and point to point private lines.

What bandwidths are available from EoC? Entry level is typically 2 to 3 Mbps, priced at similar levels to 1.5 Mbps T1 lines. It’s fairly easy to upgrade that service level to 5, 10, 15 or 20 Mbps. T1 line bonding provides a bandwidth growth path for T1 users, but gets expensive and unworkable above 10 or 12 Mbps. Companies that need higher line speeds move to DS3 and SONET services, such as OC-3 fiber optic. Once you have fiber optic service installed, upgrading bandwidth is fairly cut and dry. It’s just a matter of being able to afford the much higher lease prices.

Where things get dicey is when fiber optic service isn’t available anywhere in the area or is a mile or two away and it’s up to you to pay the construction costs to bring in the fiber. That can easily run into the tens of thousands of dollars and maybe higher. Faced with this dilemma, many companies choke on the quote and either decide to do without or move to a building that is already lit for fiber.

Ethernet over Copper is now providing an upgrade path without the need for fiber construction. Just a year or so ago, the upper end of EoC was considered to be 50 Mbps. Above that, you go to fiber. Intellifiber, a subsidiary of the competitive service provider PAETEC, recently launched 100 Mbps Ethernet over Copper service and is reported by Carrier Ethernet News to have installed 200 Mbps EoC service for one customer.

A bandwidth of 200 Mbps exceeds the OC-3 SONET fiber optic bandwidth of 156 Mbps and is plenty for many medium size and even larger businesses. Companies moving to the cloud, streaming video, transmitting high resolution medical image records, engaged in computer aided design work and the like need such high bandwidths. Some will need to press on to Gigabit Ethernet and 10 GigE to meet their needs. That’s definitely fiber territory... for now.

EoC works its magic by bonding as many as 8 to 16 copper pair to get the higher bandwidths. Unlike T1, the Achilles heel of higher line bandwidth is distance limitations. You need to be within a mile or so of the central office to realize 100 Mbps or higher EoC. Lower speeds can be engineered farther away. Even so, many potential users are close enough for EoC and have the copper bundles running into their buildings. It’s fiber that still isn’t installed.

Are you frustrated by the lack of fiber connectivity at your current business location? Why not take a look at prices and availability of Ethernet over Copper service as a bridge to higher bandwidths or a permanent replacement for fiber optic lines.

Ethernet over Copper Is The New Telephone Line

Twisted pair copper has been the standard way to connect telephone service for over 100 years. Guess what the latest in telephone line technology is? Why, it’s twisted pair copper!

You might see this as an example of “everything old is new again,” but this technology is a twist on the old twisted pair. While analog signals defined telephony in its first century, digital will rule the next century. What remains the same is the actual physical copper wireline.

Why does this make sense in an age of fiber optic communications? It’s a matter of economics. If we were made out of money, the thing to do would be to rip up all that copper in the ground and replace it with unlimited bandwidth glass fibers. But we’re not made of money and it turns out that voice-grade copper line has far more capability that we ever thought possible.

When we think of the copper phone wires that come into our homes and businesses, we think of telephone handsets for talking and 56 Kbps modems for our computers. That was last century’s technology. By switching from analog to digital transmission, you can have business grade telephone service and broadband up to 20 Mbps on those same copper phone lines.

How is this different from DSL? DSL is actually a hybrid of analog telephony with digital data sharing the same line at frequencies beyond the range of human hearing. It’s a way for residential and small business users to add broadband Internet service to their existing phone line. As a "best effort" information service, DSL was designed to optimize cost and has some well known performance and availability issues.

This is something different. It is based on Ethernet over Copper technology that bonds multiple dry copper pair to deliver a highly reliable and solid bandwidth all-digital signal to business locations only. It’s not a residential service. It’s intended for businesses that require a robust voice and data service similar to what they may be getting from an Integrated T1 line.

TelePacific, a major competitive carrier serving California and Nevada, calls their service SmartVoice. It’s an enterprise VoIP telephone service using SIP signaling. This voice service is combined with either dedicated broadband Internet access or MPLS network service. You would choose broadband to have both telephone and Internet brought in on the same line. You’d choose MPLS to link multiple business locations for both telephone and data exchange.

TelePacific maintains high voice quality by dynamically integrating the voice and data traffic on the line. Lower grade VoIP services simply use a broadband line for both telephone and computers. When data traffic gets high, voice quality suffers and calls can even be dropped. Dynamic line service actively manages packet priority so that telephone calls have priority and get the bandwidth they need for best operation. The remaining line bandwidth is assigned to data transmission. You are far less likely to notice or be annoyed by small variation in data rates than garbled and broken conversations. Once a phone call is finished, the bandwidth it had been using is reassigned automatically to the bandwidth pool for data. That’s the dynamic aspect to the technology.

What advantages does Ethernet over Copper have over the older Integrated T1 line service? Lower cost is one big advantage. EoC is lower in cost and offers more bandwidth options. You can typically get 1 to 20 Mbps bandwidth with EoC. T1 lines are fixed at 1.5 Mbps, although they can be bonded to deliver higher speeds.

Is Ethernet over Copper voice or data service the best cost/performance option for your company? You may be missing out on a major cost savings, so check Ethernet over Copper prices and availability now.



Photo of Thomas Edison courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

The Case For Telecom Copper

There is a move afoot by some of the largest telephone companies to decommission or get rid of their copper wire assets. Some of this is an attempt to foil competition. Some is simply a technology upgrade as fiber optic cables move in to replace century-old twisted pair copper bundles. Should the FCC embrace the retirement of the copper assets already in the ground and strung on poles, or is this copper a national treasure that needs to be preserved?

It may seem odd to think of copper as a national treasure. We tend to think of gold and silver when it comes to treasure. But this copper has very high value. You might say it is worth its weight in gold. That value, above the intrinsic value of the metal, is the from the time, effort and cost of stringing the copper wire from user to provider. The telephone companies, protected by a mandated monopoly for nearly a century, are the ones that made this investment and reaped the rewards. But that government monopoly was, in a sense, an investment by all of us to get that copper installed.

Now, in the 21st century, there are copper wire telecom cables running into nearly every home and business. They range from a couple of twisted pair for residences to dozens of pairs in large binder cables running into the back rooms of businesses. The fact that all this copper is in place and all conforms to a set of standards offers the opportunity to press it into service for more than just plain old analog telephony.

Indeed, the telephone companies themselves were first to use two copper pair to deliver T1 line and ISDN PRI services. T1 is most often used to provided dedicated broadband Internet access or point to point connections between two business locations. ISDN PRI carries 23 separate telephone conversations plus Caller ID and is popular for PBX telephone systems.

In recent years, competitive service providers have entered the telecom marketplace to compete with the incumbent local phone companies. The incumbents have an advantage in that they are the legal owners of the copper that runs from their offices to the residence or building being serviced. That’s called the local loop or last mile connection. Competitors have to lease the local loop from the incumbent telco. Of course, they could choose to bring in their own copper cables, but that would be cost prohibitive.

Savvy competitors have also figured out how to just lease the copper wires themselves, with no signals at all from the phone company. They then use newer terminal equipment to send non-traditonal format digital signals down the line. The most popular of these is Ethernet over Copper service. EoC offers higher bandwidths at lower costs than traditional telco services such as T1 or DS3.

Perhaps this is what’s stuck in the incumbent telephone company’s craw. Some meet the competition head to head and offer their own Ethernet over Copper services. Others figure the way to get rid of the competition is to get rid of the copper.

That’s just plain wrong. Until the government has enough stimulus money to fund universal fiber optic service the way that universal telephone service was mandated, taking copper options off the market only hurts the business community. It’s an especially bad move during a time of economic recession when most companies need the highest bandwidth they can get at the lowest cost. In another hundred years, hopefully a fraction of that, the entire interconnection infrastructure will have been upgraded to fiber optics or perhaps something even more advanced. But until that time there is no justification for retiring perfectly good copper wiring that has already been bought and paid for. Better to list it in a register of historic technologies and make sure that it is protected from degradation until no longer needed.

Could your company benefit from lower cost copper or fiber bandwidth options? Check prices and availability for your location. You may be surprised by how much you can save.