HyperSurf Internet Blog

The physical layer is the wiring part of a T1 line. In most cases the telecom will bring a RJ-45 jack and mount it in your server room. When you order the line you tell them where you want it to terminate.

There are 2 kinds of RJ-45 jacks that may be installed. One is a standard RJ-45 jack, which is open when a cable is not connected. And the other automatically loop backs when a cable is not installed. This helps with testing the T1 line during initial installation or troubleshooting if the line is down. If you have a standard jack, you can create your own loop back device for testing the T1 line.
Click to view the T1 loop back device

The easiest way to setup a T1 line for your company is to use a cisco router with an internal CSU/DSU, an example of what it looks like is show on the right. The CSU/DSU is basically like a modem that communicates with the other side in T1 language. Using a cisco router with an internal CSU/DSU just make things a little cleaner in your server room. You can use something like a cisco 1600, 1700, 1800 or 2600 router. They all allow the internal CSU/DSU card to be installed. Click here to see what the Cisco T1 DSU/CSU WAN Interface Card looks like outside of the router. The model number for the card alone is WIC-1DSU-T1-V2. You can find both the router and the card on ebay.com. With this setup you only need to connect an ethernet cable from the RJ-45 jack supplied by the telecom to the Internal DSU/CSU.

This is an example of some of the equipment that can be used for business T1 line, that doesnt have an internal DSU/CSU card. With this type of setup you will use and external DSU/CSU, like the one shown to the right. When you use an external DSU/CSU you will need to connect 2 items to it. One is the cable(cat5) from the RJ-45, and the other is a V.35 cable that will connect to the cisco router, shown below left. This cable has the newer style serial port ends. Its much smaller than the older style, shown in the next section. This setup works well when you dont have any space requirements or limitations. You can find both the router and external CSU/DSU on ebay.com.

This is an example of some of the older style equipment that can be used for business T1 line. The first piece of equipment you will need is a cisco 2500 router. Its a few years old, but should still work fine for a single T1 line. Cisco 2500 routers are no longer being made, but can be found in many surplus stores, or on ebay.com.You still need the external DSU/CSU to make the line work. The picture to the left shows the older style V.35 cable. Notice that the serial port is a little larger when compared to the newer style. You can find both the router and external CSU/DSU on ebay.com.