DSL FAQ's
DSL is a fast, excellent value for Internet access. Are you ready to download faster than ever before... Your wait is over. With DSL you no longer have to disconnect from the Internet to make or receive a phone call. DSL provides you with a dedicated connection. Say good-bye to dropped calls, re-dialing, and busy signals.
There is no better time to order your DSL line. For more details and for pricing just give our sales department a call at 801-626-0238.
- What is DSL?
- Quick facts about DSL
- How does DSL work?
- Why is distance important with DSL?
- What are the benefits of DSL?
- How fast is it?
- How can it be so much faster than a modem?
- Will I get consistent speeds?
- Will it work with my computer?
- Will DSL affect my regular phone calls?
- What is the difference between DSL and cable modems?
- More Information and pricing
How do I order it?
What is DSL?
DSL is short for "Digital Subscriber Line" - a key technology that enables the combination of voice and data on the same line. Let's start with the Internet… you've already discovered its benefits, but sometimes it's like being stuck in a traffic jam - waiting for pages to download, waiting for your modem to connect to the Internet, busy signals, giving up use of the phone line while you're surfing, etc. What if you could bypass the traffic jam, and get to your destination using a different, faster road? That's exactly what DSL does.
Four Quick Facts About DSL
DSL is fast! - Different varieties of DSL provide different maximum speeds, from twice as fast to approximately 125 times faster than a 56K analog modem.
DSL doesn't tie up your phone line! - DSL doesn't interfere with phone calls, even though it uses your regular phone line. What this means is that you can be on the Internet and you can pick up the phone and make a phone call on the same line. With DSL, you won't have to worry about missing calls, or logging off the Internet to order a pizza, and then logging back on when you're done with the call.
DSL is always on! - Your DSL connection is ready to go when you are. There's no frustration about the line dropping when you're in the middle of browsing or downloading. Want to check your e-mail? Set up your computer to check for new e-mail and notify you when you receive something instead of logging in and checking it yourself. Want to look at just one web page? Just open your browser and look. With DSL, you are always online!
DSL is reliable! - This technology uses your existing phone lines, and phone company networks are among the most reliable in the world, experiencing only minutes of downtime each year.
How does DSL work?
Traditional phone service connects your home or business to the telephone company over copper wires.
Because analog transmission only uses a small portion of the available amount of information that could be transmitted over copper wires, digital signals are able to use up the rest. Your Internet service travels over the phone wire as digital data, so you can use digital and analog service at the same time. your DSL router splits the two services apart for you.
Digital data is transmitted to your computer as digital data and phone calls are transmitted to your phone as analog sounds, this allows you to use your telephone and computer on the same line and at the same time.
Why is distance important with DSL?
Your phone lines terminate
at the phone company's central office. This distance, (the length of
your line between your location and the phone company's central office), is a very
important factor in whether or not you can get DSL, and what speed
you can get.
Here are some rules of thumb for distance ranges. Please be aware
that distance limits for speeds
can vary.
| Distance In Feet |
comment |
|---|---|
| less than 5000 | You will have little trouble getting all speeds of DSL. |
| 5000-10600 | You may have trouble getting the highest speeds available. |
| 10600-18000 | In this range, Megabit DSL is normally still available, although it may be restricted to 300-500k speeds. |
| 18000-22000 | DSL may not be available, you will need to have us pre-qualify your line for you. |
What are the benefits of DSL?
In addition to their very high speed, and always being connected, DSL has many benefits over cable. DSL connection are always on, and you are tied directly to your provider without sharing the lines with your whole neighborhhod. Another benefit is the ability to use the phone at the same time the data connection is on.
How fast is it?
Depending on the speed of service, the DSL modem can download data at speeds ranging from 256 Kilobits per second up to 20 Megabits per second. Newer MLPPP routers allow you to double the speeds of standard DSL service (FTTN MLPPP not available yet) So, if you order two lines...you get twice the speed (up to 14Mbps). Over time, DSL has been getting faster and faster.
How can it be so much faster than a modem?
Even though they both use a phone line, Analog modems send their signals through the public switched telephone network, the same one that connects ordinary telephones. DSL modems use all DIGITAL signals on top of the voice signal which allows it to operate cleanly without errors along side your analog phone. On the phone company's premises, the line gets split - the voice calls are sent to the public switched telephone network, and the data transmission goes to the Internet. This method moves data off the phone companies' lines and instead uses connections optimized for carrying Internet traffic.
Will I get consistent speeds?
Yes, Unlike your 56k modem that really never connects at 56k (more like 48K), DSL speeds are typically consistent throughout the day, day after day. Most DSL users agree that even the lower DSL speeds seem faster than cable because the speeds are consistent and don't fluctuate up and down like cable Internet does. The limitations deal much more with the performance of the Internet server you're trying to reach and the amount of traffic on the Internet. The Internet is a loosely coupled network of computers that are transmitting data by different methods through different computers at different speeds, so the speed you receive data with a DSL modem limited more by these factors.
Will it work with my computer?
Yes, and the newer the computer the better the performance. Most DSL modems or routers are external, and plug into any computer using either a lan port (rj45 or ethernet) or a USB port. So a Mac will connect just as easily as a PC or linux machine. If your computer is already configured to operate on a local area network (LAN), it will have an interface that can connect to an external modem. Check with ReliaNET to see if there are any current promotions for this hardware.
Will DSL affect my regular phone calls?
No, In most cases, DSL will not interfere with your phone calls at all, and vice-versa. In some cases when you are using the same phone line for both DSL and POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service), you will need to add a simple filter device between your phone and the wall jack (filters are usually included with all DSL routers and modems).
What is the difference between DSL and cable modems?
DSL provides always-on high-speed Internet access over a single dedicated telephone line; cable modems offer Internet access over a shared cable television line. While cable modems have greater downstream (from the Internet into the home) bandwidth capabilities, that bandwidth is shared among all users in a neighborhood, and will therefore vary, perhaps dramatically, as more users in a neighborhood get online at the same time. Cable modem upstream (from the home to the Internet) traffic will in many cases be slower than DSL, either because the particular cable modem is inherently slower, or because too many people in a neighborhood are trying to send or receive data at the same time. The big difference between DSL and cable modems, however, is the number of lines available to each. There are no more than 12 million homes today that can support two-way cable modem transmissions, and while the figure is growing steadily, it will not catch up with telephone lines for many years. Only about 20 percent of homes are ready for cable modems now, compared to 50 to 60 percent of homes that are ready for DSL service. Additionally, many of the older cable networks are not capable of offering a return channel; consequently, such networks will need significant upgrading before they can offer high bandwidth services.