Covad T1: No Comparison
Click to Play
Andy Abramson and I did various tests with Skype, Gizmo Project, SightSpeed, and the Nokia N800 using our respective Covad T1s. We then switched to Andy’s cable connection (through Cox, if memory serves), I stayed on the Covad line, and repeated the same tests. In all applications, you can tell the difference between the two. The Covad T1 line was the clear winner.
The more I use my Covad T1 that I got from their Blogger Relations program, the more I realize that I am so going to miss it when I move to Gig Harbor in the next 6 weeks or so. It’s not the speed–my cable modem downstream is certainly faster than the 1.5 mb/s I get from the T1. However, the bandwidth is consistent and predictable. The latency is much lower on the T1 than it is on either my Wave Broadband cable connection or my Qwest DSL line. There isn’t any packet loss to speak of. It just works.
Because I had to clear out my wiring closet due to some carpet repair that needed to occur, I switched the entire house over to the Covad T1 a little over a week ago. Other than to troubleshoot a connectivity issue that eventually resolved itself, I haven’t looked back. Other than for large file downloads, I hardly notice the difference in my non-VoIP usage of the line. There’s a clear difference when I start using my VoIP applications, especially on the video side.
The following video was recorded with SightSpeed and was conducted using a Covad T1 on each end. The video quality was awesome, or at least it was before it was transcoded. 
Formats available: MPEG1 Video (.mpg)
