What is ADSL?

Explaining the technology..

Broadband is a relatively new way to access the Internet. It offers many advantages over Modem or ISDN. However, BT need to upgrade the telephone exchange to be able to offer this wonderful new technology.

ADSL is the most common form of broadband in the UK and it is this which BT provide via Internet Central.

ADSL works by taking your existing BT voice telephone line and splitting the phone signal into these two parts;

1. Standard Analogue Phone Signal - This runs as usual, through BT, and you continue to pay BT for line rental     and call charges incurred when talking to people.
2. ADSL Signal. This is provided on exactly the same copper wire that your normal phone signal runs on but does not interfere with the phone signal at all.

This means you can surf the net AND speak to someone at the same time.

ADSL is an always-on connection. This means that you can visit a Website as soon as your computer has booted

- no more waiting for your modem to warble a connection to your ISP.

ADSL is offered at different speeds, starting at 512kbit. This is approximately 10 times faster than your modem! You can even have ADSL at up to 6 megabits in some areas, which is 40-50 times faster!

With these new superfast speeds, surfing the Internet becomes much more enjoyable. Imagine being able to download that MP3 you want in less than 20 seconds? Imagine being able to stream film trailers without them stuttering or being the size of postage stamps? Imagine being able to listen to your favourite radio station online, or even radio from the other side of the world in high quality sound? Imagine being able to download those software updates or new software in minutes rather than hours?

These are just a few of the major advantages of Broadband over modem/ISDN.

You might think that all this comes at an excessive cost but that's not the case.

512kbit ADSL is available for a little over £20 a month. Your existing dialup connection could be costing almost as much and probably more!

If you have more than one computer in the house, you can link them all together and share the Broadband connection - When one family member downloads, you can still surf without any slowdown. Internet Central can help you with solutions for home and business that will allow you to share your connection between hundreds

of users if required.

Even more advantages of ADSL:

• Your Internet access is always on, like electricity or tap water
• You don't have the trouble of dialling-up and logging-on each time you want to do something online
• You're always in touch with your customers and suppliers, friends and family are only a click away with email or instant messaging
• There are no surprise costs or restrictions on accessing the Internet. The same bill every month.
• You can still make and take normal telephone calls while on the Internet
• Download complex and graphic-rich Websites virtually instantly
• Play interactive games at top speed against gamers around the world. Internet Central broadband
• now supports Xbox live! and connections via PS2 and Gamecube!
• Run your business more efficiently and effectively