DSL has its roots in telephone lines
To understand how DSL works, you need to have a general understanding of how telephone lines work. Telephone lines work by sending signals through copper wires. These wires run from your home to the road. There, they are packed into a thick cable and bundled with over 100 other wires. The cable either runs directly to the phone company’s switch board or to a box on the side of the road which acts as a digital concentrator. From there, the signal can be directed anywhere in the world.
So what does this have to do with DSL?
Telephones only transmit voice signals over the copper wires. Voice frequencies typically range from 0 to 3,400 Hertz (cycles per second), however the copper wires are capable of handling much more bandwidth then is used by regular telephone lines.
This is where DSL comes in. DSL takes advantage of the extra space available on these wires. By using different frequencies (high frequency for DSL and low frequency for normal telephone) DSL is able to transmit data through the phone lines without interrupting your regular telephone service. This is achieved using a device called a POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service) splitter. Telephone frequencies are routed one way while the DSL frequencies are routed the other way.
Of course, historically, it makes sense for phone companies not to use this extra space because it allows them to have a higher capacity of phone lines in a smaller space. However, modern technology uses digital signals instead of analog signals so DSL can safely use much more of the telephone line’s capacity without interrupting the signal.
Advantages of DSL
Because of these advancements in technology, DSL comes with many advantages. First of all, it allows you to keep your internet connection open and talk on the phone at the same time. Before DSL, unless you had a separate phone line for the internet, you couldn’t talk on the phone at the same time you were on the internet. Additionally, the connection speed is much greater than a regular modem which allows pages to load faster and for faster download speeds.
Since DSL works directly with your existing phone lines, it doesn’t require any new wiring. Unless your house hasn’t been renovated since 1875, you can use your existing phone line to connect to the internet. Also companies that provide DSL also usually provide a modem to go with your connection as part of the installation. DSL is so easy to install that some companies will simply send you the hardware and you can install it yourself. This saves you both time and money.
By: Saleh Tousi
Posts Tagged ‘Copper Wires’
DSL – How it Works
February 6th, 2010Information About the T1 Line Service Service and Providers
December 16th, 2009
A T1 line service is not the same as other types of internet connections. What it can do for a small business is amazing. It is not really ideal for home users and also isn’t quite ready to handle a large company. But the amount of data it transfers is sufficient for new or smaller companies.
T1 Internet service actually began in the fifties, and was first developed by Bell labs for use in America and Japan. The choices that were made by the developing company back then set the standard for the T1 service even as it exists today. Because of those choices, the European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications or CEPT was able to make a different choice for their E1 or European version of this service.
Many small businesses have around eight or ten phone lines to use as well as needing access to the internet. A T1 internet connection could be an ideal solution. Bigger companies would choose to use a T2 or a T3. A T1 is more suited to a business that has many employees browsing the internet.
A T2 line will have information that travels at 6. 312 megabits per second. A T3 line will transfer information at 44. 756 megabits per second. A T1 service is faster than cable or modem internet connections, but its information travels at 1. 544 megabits per second. The streaming information that becomes accessible by a company moves very quickly. However, routers and servers across the world that must be accessed in order to surf the internet aren’t controlled by a person’s T1 service and may cause delays still.
For the most part, a person can expect that their T1 service is made up of a cable of twisted copper wire. Slowly, T1’s are being transferred to fibre optic cables. These are bundles of glass fibres that can carry information cleaner and don’t take damage from their surroundings as easily as copper wires do.
Pricing for a T1 line service will vary according to where the service is located and going to. Because only Bell companies can offer service to T1 lines, all other companies that offer consumers a T1 line are doing so as a third party to Bell. That means there are more costs involved. Also, a T1 circuit is priced by how far the business or location is from where the main source of access is. If the T1 line is far away from its nearest distributor, it will be more expensive.
A T1 Bandwidth service can bring many benefits to a business. The uploads and downloads are faster. There is rarely any interruption of service so employees have more time to work and less downtime waiting for the internet to come back. Websites that need constant revising or updating can be tended to on a twenty-four hour basis. This connection is always on, always going, as a T1 service is dedicated and just for that business.
Some people believe that a T1 line service would be the answer to their prayers. Perhaps they would be right. It is not a simple modem service and is much better than even cable or DSL internet connections due to it’s reliability. It is a perfect solution for a small business. Just remember to consult a telecom consultant when searching for T1 Line Service.
By: Ricky Simpson