How Fast Is DSL?

DSL falls under the term broadband, and competes with cable and satellite Internet in this respect. Although the actual speed of any DSL service varies, in general upload speeds fall between 128 Kbps to 768 Kbps, and download speeds are between 768 Kbps and 6 Mbps. This means that DSL is always a great deal faster than dial up, almost always faster than satellite, and somewhat slower than cable Internet.

How fast DSL is will change from household to household even when the same service provider is used. There are many variables that can affect the speed of a DSL connection, but the most common are the phone line, spyware, and the router.

The phone line is very important, and older lines will provide slower connections. The length of the phone line between the phone company’s local hub and the residence will decrease speed as well.

Spyware on the user’s computer can slow down a DSL connection by using bandwidth and processing power. Spyware can be very frustrating, and the best solution is to purchase a software package such as Norton or McAfee and run it regularly.

A poorly configured router can cause all kinds of problems including slow connection speeds. Fortunately it is easy to diagnose this problem. Simply disconnect the router and connect a sing computer to the DSL connection. If the problem goes away, the router is the culprit.

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For more information about ADSL / SDSL connections, or to compare various ISPs that offer DSL service, check our listing of DSL Internet Providers to see what is available.