Digital subscriber line

Digital subscriber line (DSL; originally digital subscriber loop) is a family of technologies that are used to transmit digital data over telephone lines. In telecommunications marketing, the term DSL is widely understood to mean asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL), the most commonly installed DSL technology, for Internet access.

In ADSL, the data throughput in the upstream direction (the direction to the service provider) is lower, hence the designation of ''asymmetric'' service. In symmetric digital subscriber line (SDSL) services, the downstream and upstream data rates are equal.

DSL service can be delivered simultaneously with wired telephone service on the same telephone line since DSL uses higher frequency bands for data transmission. On the customer premises, a DSL filter is installed on each telephone to prevent undesirable interaction between DSL and telephone service.

The bit rate of consumer ADSL services typically ranges from up to , while the later VDSL+ technology delivers between and in the direction to the customer (downstream), with up to upstream. The exact performance is depending on technology, line conditions, and service-level implementation. Researchers at Bell Labs have reached SDSL speeds over using traditional copper telephone lines, though such speeds have not been made available for the end customers yet. Provided by Wikipedia