DSL - Digital Subscriber Line
DSL or xDSL, is a family of technologies that provide digital data transmission over the wires of a local telephone network. DSL originally stood for digital subscriber loop, although in recent years, many have adopted digital subscriber line as a more marketing-friendly term for the most popular version of consumer-ready DSL, ADSL. DSL uses high frequency; regular telephone uses low frequency.
Typically, the download speed of consumer DSL services ranges from 512 kilobits per second (kbit/s) to 24,000 kbit/s, depending on DSL technology, line conditions and service level implemented. Typically, upload speed is lower than download speed for Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) and equal to download speed for Symmetric Digital Subscriber Line (SDSL).
Voice and data
Some variants of DSL connections, like ADSL and very high speed DSL (VDSL), typically work by dividing the frequencies used in a single phone line into two primary 'bands'. The ISP data is carried over the high frequency band (25 kHz and above) whereas the voice is carried over the lower frequency band (4 kHz and below). (See the ADSL article on how the high frequency band is sub-divided). The user typically installs a DSL filter on each phone. This filters out the high frequencies from the phone, so that the phone only sends or receives the lower frequencies (the human voice). The DSL modem and the normal telephone equipment can be used simultaneously on the line without interference from each other.
