DSL vs ADSL
DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) is the generic term for services that provide internet connections using digital data connections between a modem and a phone line. What’s great about DSL, is that even when the phone line is in use, there is no interruption, and you can still experience a high speed internet connection even when you are making calls. The only issue is, that when you are close to the central office of the company with which you are subscribed, you will have faster internet, but when you are far from their central office, although you are within their scope, you will have a slower internet connection.
There are different types of DSL. There’s SDSL, VDSL, and ADSL. ADSL stands for Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line. This type of service means that the speed of data sent is known as upstream, and the data received is known as downstream, and the speeds are not always guaranteed to be the same. They have different speeds that change from time to time. The most requested service is the ADSL service. In regards to ADSL, the internet service providers offer options for higher bandwidth, in upstream, downstream or both. The only thing is, they naturally charge higher rates for higher speeds.
ADSL uses a special ADSL modem, and a micro-filter in the subscriber’s telephone line.
This is what allows the ADSL service and telephone service to be used at the same time. The word ‘asymmetric’ in ADSL actually means that the downstream is faster than the upstream. ADSL supports a downstream rate of 1.5 to 9 Mbps, and an upstream rate of 16 to 640 Kbps.
When you use ADSL, your PC will always be connected to the internet, as long as the power is on, and once you ‘turn on’ your computer, your PC will automatically have an internet connection, unless you manually disconnect. Unlike dial-ups, ADSL can serve various computers within a house for multiple members simultaneously.
Summary:
The simple difference between DSL and ADSL is that DSL is the generic term for Digital Subscriber Line services, and ADSL, or Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line, is just one of its types. There are other types of DSL, such as SDSL and VDSL.