Exploring the Many Flavors of DSL

When a person decides upon the type of broadband service to use, they normally consider their options to be limited to cable, satellite broadband, and a digital subscriber line. Many people might be surprised to learn there are several variations of DSL service. The availability of some may be limited, depending upon the area of the country in which you live. Today's article will provide a brief description of the most popular flavors.

ADSL (A stands for "asymmetric") - This is the variation that is used predominantly by residential customers and small businesses. It offers a much higher data transmission rate for downloading packets than uploading, which is appropriate for most users. ADSL is further separated into two additional flavors: RADSL and VDSL.

RADSL (rate-adaptive) - This is an offshoot technology of ADSL that was designed by a company called Westell. Software is used to identify the highest speed of transmission for each individual user given the limitations of that user's phone line. Once identified, the rate can be altered to minimize network impact.

VDSL (very high bit rate) - This variation is a relatively recent technology that dramatically increases the transmission speed of packets sent over very small distances (i.e. 1,000 feet or less). To compare, a normal DSL connection can transmit up to 8 Mbps while a VDSL connection allows data to travel at up to 55 Mbps.

SDSL (S stands for "symmetric") - SDSL connections provide users with the same transmission speeds for uploading and downloading information. This flavor of DSL is commonly used by businesses and far less frequently by residential customers. Because businesses have more rigorous upload requirements, SDSL is often preferred.

SHDSL (symmetric high-speed) - This is a variation of SDSL that has an identical top transmission speed for both uploads and downloads. The technology seeks to address a number of technical issues that are beyond the attention of most residential and small business customers.

HDSL-2 (high bit rate) - This version is very similar to DSL and was designed to address the lack of compatibility between the hardware and software of disparate providers. With HDSL-2, information packets can travel along a pair of copper wires up to a distance of 12,000 feet.

IDSL (I stands for "integrated") - One of the limitations of a digital subscriber line is that the transmission speed is influenced by the distance a customer lives from his or her provider's central hub. IDSL was invented to help customers who live far from the hub enjoy reasonable transmission rates. However, the service is still considered slow.

It is likely that new technology will continue to expand the menu of DSL flavors that customers can take advantage of. What's more, the bandwidth offered by each flavor is likely to increase over time. Indeed, most experts would agree that the technology that drives broadband internet access is still in its early stages.

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