What Is DSL?

Digital Subscriber Line, or DSL, is a family of technologies that provide digital data transmission over the wires of a local telephone network.

There are 2 basic types: ADSL and SDSL

ADSL - Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line
SDLS - Symmetric Digital Subscriber Line

Upload speed is lower than download speed for Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) and equal to download speed for Symmetric Digital Subscriber Line (SDSL).

DSL and Cable modems are the two major compeitors for high speed internet providers in the USA and in Europe.

DSL Equipment and Installation:

Today, most DSL service providers offer a self-installation option.

They simply ship equipment and instructions to the customer. This is possible because no changes need to be made to the cable plant on the customer premises... all the phone wires already have both POTS and DSL signal frequencies because DSL works within the existing telephone service network.

However, to preserver phone service quality, a customer generally needs to plug a DSL filter into each telephone outlet. These filters are easy to use and are inxpensive.

DSL Requirements

Besides a decent computer with a USB or Ethernet port., you will also need to in the area of a DSL office. It is possible that you may not be able to get DSL at your home, even though someone on the same street can!

At most DSL service provider websites you can use an online tool where you type in your address and you can see check DSL service availability.

You can surf the internet much faster with DSL than you can with regular old dial-up access, and with the amount of videos and other data that requires long download times, DSL is almost a necessity for most internet users.

You may also want to investigate high speed internet access from your cable company.