DSL

            With the continuous demand for better and faster Internet performance, service providers have flooded the market with numerous high-speed Internet products. Consumers are faced with the decision to remain with the slow speed of dial-ups and modems or move up to one of the high-speed products. One such product is the Digital Subscriber Line, better known as DSL. There are several variations of DSL, but we will be focusing on ADSL, G.Lite, and VDSL. DSL is a technology for bringing high-bandwidth information to homes using existing copper telephone lines. It was developed to allow the telephone companies to be able to fully utilize the millions of twisted copper wires that comprise the POTS-- "Plain Old Telephone Service"-- network of the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN). According to ADSL.com there are 750 million plus existing copper wires in the telephone infrastructure today. With the development of this new technology, telephone companies can receive great benefits by reusing these existing copper wires. In addition, both the telephone companies and consumers can bypass the cost of installing new dedicated fiber cables to the curb (FTC). DSL works by using the traditional phone service (POTS), which connects your home to a telephone company. This connection allows users to exchange voice information by converting an acoustic signal (the voice) into an electrical equivalent (analog wave). This existing analog wave transmission only uses a small portion (about 4KHz) of the available 1MHz frequencies for voice transmission. The remaining frequencies can be used for transmitting data. The only limitation is that you must be within 18,000 feet of the CO (Central Office). DSL is a technology that assumes digital data does not require a change from analog form and back. By sending digital data back and forth from your PC to the phone company, your computer does not have to modulate and demodulate the information as it does when using a modem.