VOIP T1 vs Fiber

Question

Currently using a T1 (1.544Mbps) for what I think is pricey sum of 500 a month. Found I could get 30/30 fiber for about the same price. Would there be any downside to switching to fiber, I would think it's better, since we can merge VOIP with daily Internet, using QOS on VOIP. Am I wrong to think this? The T1 is dedicated VOIP, we also have a 80/5 cable which is currently being use for normal internet data.

Answer 1

TLDR; If you can get the same SLA with your fiber as you can with the T1, go fiber!

Not all fiber is the same, you can have Dedicated Ethernet, QoS Lines, and Business Class Internet.

Dedicated Ethernet is typically point to point with a provider's head-end, and provides you with consistent speeds, an SLA and sometimes QoS (but not always). You could use bandwidth management to slice off 5 Mbps of traffic dedicated for voice, and use QoS on the switches to ensure better packet delivery and lower latency.

QoS Lines, this are dedicated lines that can be over fiber, or another transit like coax, the service comes with an SLA and in guaranteed.

Then there's Business Class Internet, which essentially means you don't have the limitations as a resident, but you are still a consumer grade connection. The ISP provides a service, it's usually good, sometimes it's bad, you can do bandwidth management again, but at the end of the day it is what it is.

Answer 2

Theoretically, no, there is no downside. However, as Michael mentioned, the latency might be a little higher.

One thing you have to keep in mind with business internet is an ISP may offer service in the area, but how far your business is from their tap will determine a lot. I worked for a company where they had 20down and 20up, but their latency was horrible and their speed maxed out at 13. They had issues with their VoIP (bad call quality) and their internet dropped consistently. All of this was due to the fact that their drop was too far away from their building.