ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line, or DSL for short) isa high-speed Internet access service that utilizes existing coppertelephones lines to send and receive data at speeds that far exceedconventional dial-up modems.

The fastest dial-up modems are rated at 57 kilobits per second (Kbps), and usually operate at about 53 Kbps under good conditions.By comparison, ADSL allows datastream speeds from 256Kbps to 8 megabitsper second (Mbps), depending on the grade of ADSL service purchased.

ADSLuses standard telephone lines to transmit upstream and downstream dataon a digital frequency, which sets these datastreams apart from theanalog signals telephones and fax machines use. Because the ADSL signalis operating on a different frequency,the telephone can be used normally, even when surfing the Web with ADSLservice. The only requirement will probably be inexpensive DSL fileterson each phone or fax line, to remove any "White Noise" on the line thatmight be generated from ADSL service.

The "asymmetric" inADSL refers to the fact that the downstream data rate, or the datacoming to your computer from the Internet, istraveling faster than upstream data, or the data traveling from yourcomputer to the Internet. Upstream data rates are slower because Webpage requests are fairly miniscule data strings that do not requiremuch bandwidth to handle efficiently.