green@cbnewse.att.com (david.bruce.green) (03/28/91)
If you compare the costs of a point to point circuit between two locations against the cost of connecting both ends to a public packet network, the pt-to-pt circuit is almost always cheaper. In fact, from several comparisons I've made using real customer data, full mesh connectivity between multiple locations doesn't become cheaper with packet networks until the number of locations gets to around five or more. HOWEVER, when a problem develops with your connections, you're pretty much on your own to shoot the trouble with a pt-to-pt network. A good packet network vendor (AT&T's APS comes to mind) will act as your agent in dealing with local access companies, and partner in trouble shooting all the way back to your equipment (protocol analyzers, etc). Sometimes that's worth the extra cost. Same is true for dial-up access to hosts. Network transport for 800 or SDN type services can be cheaper, but maintaining a mux and modem pool can be a hassle. Plugging into a packet network and letting the vendor worry about those things is much easier albeit more costly. Dave Green ihlpl!dbg