With the majority of users connecting to the Internet on some form of DSL (Digital Subscriber Line), we thought it was time to give you some tips to help you streamline your DSL connection using filters. If you’re connecting to the internet using cable or satellite or, god forbid, dial-up, these instructions might even help you to get rid of a bit of noise in your phone line.
Most DSL connections are actually ADSL (Asynchronous DSL), meaning that your upload speed probably sucks but your download speed is likely decent. For example, if you can download at 5 Mbps (megabits per second), you can usually upload at around 1 Mbps. Most of the time, these speeds are attained via POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service)which utilizes basic copper wire. Although some telcos feed fiber cables to a place near your home, and use copper for the rest of the journey. If you’re lucky enough(and well-off enough)to have a fiber ADSL connection, then, well, none of this really applies to you. Your speeds should be much higher.
In the United States and Canada, it’s pretty standard for the telcos to connect a line to your house leaving the rest of the wiring beyond that point under your control. That point is called a Demarcation Point or a NID (Network Interface Device) and the telcos responsibility ends there. Anything you do with the wires past the demarc is your concern, not theirs. Look for this box by following your phone line up to your house. Ideally, everything that you’re going to work on should be easily accessible on the inside of that wall.
