ADSL is basically an off shoot of the DSL technology. ADSL stands for Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line, this technology allows faster data transmission over your telephone line. ADSL is filtered both in the telephone exchange and at the end users, this enables us to make telephone calls and use the internet at the same time. ADSL works to three distinct frequency ranges:

• voice - this basically is anything to do with speech
• upstream - this is when you send any information, for instance the request of a Web page or send email etc.
• downstream - this is when you receive the content of Web pages, download music, videos, receive email etc.

Most consumers would use the downstream frequency range so ADSL being Asymmetric means we can download more than we can upload. So a larger proportion of the bandwidth the (overall signal) is geared towards receiving information.