Business DSL Key Terms

Sort through the jargon that comes free with DSL service for business

Like much of the broadband Internet industry, the business DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) market is awash in acronyms and insider terms that can be confusing to the neophyte shopper. The good news is that many key terms are shared between DSL, cable and other types of broadband Internet, so if you master the business DSL key terms you'll also be able to navigate your way through the forest of other broadband service types.

Understanding business DSL key terms and vocabulary will also allow you to take fullest advantage of your options. After all, if you don't know what you're shopping for, you can't negotiate an advantageous settlement. You only need a few minutes to be able to:

1. Learn the difference between business DSL and T1 connections, and why your connection might need a filter.

2. Untangle the forest of acronyms surrounding business class DSL.

3. Understand what it means when business DSL providers don't offer symmetrical speeds, and why you should care.

 

Get the skinny on filters, splitters and more things you may need from your DSL provider

Because a DSL Internet connection transfers data through the same lines that carry your voice telephone signals, you may need to install (or have your provider install) a filter to keep the data and voice signals separate.
Try: WiseGEEK offers a good explanation of DSL filters and clearly defines the difference between split and splitterless installation, the former being something you might choose to attempt without waiting on a service call to your business. The Velocity Guide helps to pare away any uncertainty you may have had about what a DSL line actually is, and how it compares to a T1 connection.

Sort through the multiple business class DSL acronyms

You may have seen DSL for business referred to as xDSL. This is a reference to the variety of DSL connections, such as ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) and SDSL (Symmetric Digital Subscriber Line), where "x" is meant as a wildcard to signify that the reference applies to any of the aforementioned types of DSL connection.
Try: Jupiter Online Media and BroadbandInfo.com both thoroughly explain the difference between ADSL and SDSL connections, in addition to giving extra information about why each might (or might not) be appropriate for your business.

Understand terms specific to DSL and broadband providers

Download (or downstream) and upload (or upstream) may already be familiar concepts from your previous Internet experience. Download speed or time refers to how long it takes to retrieve information into your computer via the Internet, while upload speed refers to the time it takes to send information out from your computer through the Internet.
Try: DSL.net offers a good example of symmetrical download/upload speeds. Companies whose transfer speeds are asymmetrical--like Verizon--tend to play up the fast download speeds and omit mention of slower uploads; they include the slower upload speed as a second figure behind the more impressionable download speed (such as 7.1Mbps/768Kbps, where the first number is a very high-speed download (7.1 megabytes per second) and the second number is a much slower (768 kilobytes per second, where 1,000 kilobytes would be equivalent to one megabyte) upload speed.

 

• Always ask for clarification of tech-specific terms you don't understand or aren't completely clear on; sometimes poorly educated salespeople, more interested in making a sale than in their quality of service, will fling terms they don't even understand when giving business DSL price quotes.

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