When selecting a router, the smart money is spent on scalability. Some routers have the ability to terminate multiple T1’s in a load-balanced configuration, while the more remedial T1 routers are designed for a single T1. Any growth beyond a single T1 would require a hardware upgrade and render the existing router a very expensive door stop.
The theory behind planning for scalability is simple. While a single T1 is enough for your business right now, two years down the road you may be in need of a second T1, or more. Bandwidth consumption is driven by the ever increasing web-based applications that are finding there way into businesses. More and more applications that improve efficiency and reduce costs in a business setting are voracious consumers of bandwidth. A likely comparison is the PC industry. Two years ago, a P3 1.2 GHz PC with 128 Mb of RAM was plenty to drive just about any business need. Today, that PC is a paperweight on the shelf of the IT department. Applications have grown and so has our PC processing needs. The same holds true with bandwidth.
Other considerations for buying a router are VPN and Firewall requirements. Most T1 routers will have on-board firewall and VPN configuration capability. All router manufacturers provide a technical document of these metrics for their routers. Most are available as a white paper or pdf down load from the manufacturer’s website. Take a close look at the capabilities of the router when planning your purchase.
