What are DSL, xDSL, ADSL, etc?
Digital Subscriber Line, or DSL, is a broadband technology. It transforms a normal telephone line into a high speed broadband connection. xDSL is a generic term used to refer to the family of DSL technologies. There are several different forms of DSL with different capabilities suited to different markets including: • ADSL (Asymmetric DSL) Provided over an existing telephone line (one copper pair), ADSL converts it to a high speed digital line up to 40 times faster than a traditional modem. It is asymmetric because it provides more bandwidth in one direction than the other. • SDSL (Symmetric DSL) Similar to ADSL, but it offers the same bandwidth in both directions. It is suited to situations where the user needs to send and receive large amounts of data.
