The following blog has been compiled to provide information for the different type(s) of WAN Technologies. Keep in mind that Ethernet is a fast growing WAN technology with companies moving to deploy VPLS, MPLS and TLS Circuits for WAN connectivity. As a Cisco network engineer you will still encounter legacy WAN connections.
Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) technologies are fairly common in the United States and other developing nations that provide broadband to customers over existing telephone wire infrastructure. The is however the limitation of distance which basically means the subscriber can be so far from the DSLAM (DSL Access Multiplexer) which is commonly known as the “central office”.
| Common Name |
Standards Name |
Downstream Rate |
Upstream Rate |
Ext. Down |
Est. Up |
| aDSL |
G.992.1 G.DMT |
12Mbit/s |
1.3Mbit/s |
1.5MB/s |
166KB/s |
| aDSL+ |
ITU G992.4/5 |
24Mbit/s |
1.0Mbit/s |
3MB/s |
128KB/s |
| HDSL |
G.991.1 |
2.048Mbit/s |
2.048Mbit/s |
262KB/s |
262KB/s |
| SHDSL |
G.991.2 |
2.265Mbit/s |
2.265Mbit/s |
290KB/s |
290KB/s |
| VDSL |
G.933.1 |
52Mbit/s |
19.2Mbit/s |
6.5MB/s |
2MB/s |
| VDSL2 |
G.991.2 |
250Mbit/s |
250Mbit/s |
21.25MB/s |
21.25MB/s |
| IDSL |
ANSI T1.601 |
144Kbit/s |
144Kbit/s |
18KB/s |
18KB/s |
| RADSL* |
ANTI TR59 |
8Mbit/s |
8Mbit/s |
1MB/s |
1MB/s |
NOTE: Bandwidth is shown at maximum theoretical speed using the latest standard.
*RADSL – Rate-Adaptive Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line – Adjusts the upstream/downstream bandwidth in a tradeoff. |
Integrated Services Digital Networks (ISDN)
ISDN Lines have seen their glory in the 90’s and is now considered a legacy technology however you may encounter this technology in third world countries where the hardware is extremely cheap to acquire and deploy.
| Link Type |
Link Bandwidth |
Est. Throughput |
Additional Information |
| BRI |
128Kbit/s |
16KB/s |
2x 64Kb B Channels & 1x 16k D Channel |
| PRI – NA (AKA: T1) |
1.544Mbit/s |
197KB/s |
23x 64Kb B Channels & 1x 64k D Channel |
| PRI – EU (AKA: E1) |
2.048Mbit/s |
262KB/s |
30x 64Kb B Channels & 1x 64k D Channel |
T Carriers
| Link Type |
Link Bandwidth |
Est. Throughput |
Additional Information |
| T1 (DS1) |
1.544Mbit/s |
197KB/s |
24 DS0 Channels |
| E1 (DS1EU) |
2.048Mbit/s |
262KB/s |
30 Channels + 2D |
| T1c (DS1c) |
3.152Mbit/s |
403KB/s |
48 Channels |
| T2 (DS2) |
6.312Mbit/s |
808KB/s |
96 Channels (uncommon) |
| T3 (DS3) |
44.736Mbit/s |
5.59MB/s |
672 Channels |
| T4 (DS4) |
274.176Mbit/s |
34.3MB/s |
4032 Channels |
Optical Carriers
| Link Type |
Link Bandwidth |
Est. Throughput |
Additional Information |
| OC-1 / STS-1 |
51.84Mbit/s |
6.48MB/s |
|
| OC-3 / STS-3 |
155.52Mbit/s |
19.44MB/s |
|
| OC-9 / STS-9* |
466.56Mbit/s |
58.32MB/s |
|
| OC-12 / STS-12 |
622.08Mbit/s |
77.76MB/s |
|
| OC-18 / STS-18* |
933.12Mbit/s |
116.64MB/s |
|
| OC-24 / STS-24* |
1244.16Mbit/s |
155.52MB/s |
|
| OC-36 / STS-36* |
1866.24Mbit/s |
233.28MB/s |
|
| OC-48 / STS-48 |
2488.32Mbit/s |
311.04MB/s |
Used in USA |
| OC-96 / STS-96* |
4976.64Mbit/s |
622.08MB/s |
|
| OC-192 / STS-192 |
9953.28Mbit/s |
1.24GB/s |
Internet Backbone |
| OC-256 / STS-256 |
13.271Gbit/s |
1.659GB/s |
Internet Backbone |
| OC-768 / STS-768 |
39.813Gbit/s |
4.977GB/s |
Internet Backbone |
| OC-3072 / STS-3072 |
159.252Mbit/s |
19.44GB/s |
|
| NOTE: * Several of the listed links are not standardized and/or commonly used including 9, 18, 24 and 36. |
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