What is DSL and how does it work?

Digitial Subsriber line technology (DSL) is a method for providing high speed internet access to homes and business across the country. DSL service utilizes the same phone lines that are currently used for the telephones in your home. The telephone line have a great deal of bandwidth that is not being utilized for your telephone conversations. DSL providers exploit this extra capacity to carry digital information without disturbing your conversations.

In order to receive DSL service in your home or business you must be within 18,000 ft. (about 3.5mi.) from the nearest telephone exchange. So even if DSL service is offered in your city, it is possible that the service still may not be available in your neighborhood.

Some of the Advantages of DSL include: 1) You can leave your internet connection open all the time, and still use the phone line for voice calls 2) The speed is much greater than dial-up service (1.5 Mpbs vs. 56kbps) 3) DSL doesn't require new wiring as existing phone lines are used. 4) Your DSL provider will typically provide the modem as part of the installation.

Disadvantages of DSL: 1) Limited availability 2) performance is much faster for receiving data than for sending data.