 I am posting this article via my brand new Qwest DSL internet access. Not only is the new service fast it's also quite affordable at $26/month for 1.5 megabyte speed. No more price gouging by high speed internet access providers in Angel Fire, for us. Unfortunately not everyone will be able to use the service due to distance limits inherent in DSL service. If you are more than 18,000 feet, as the phone cable travels, from the switch office you may not be able to get it. Qwest will have to install additional equipment before everyone in Angel Fire will be able to get DL. Maybe the village will find time to request Qwest provide the additional equipment needed so that ALL Angel Fire residents enjoy the same internet access that Taos residents have had for several years.
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.
Typically, the download speed of consumer DSL services ranges from 256 kilobits per second (kbit/s) to 24,000kbit/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).
Because DSL operates at above the 3.4 kHz voice limit, it cannot be passed through a load coil. Load coils are, in essence, filters that block out any non-voice frequency. They are commonly set at regular intervals in lines placed only for POTS service. A DSL signal cannot pass through a properly installed and working load coil, nor can voice service be maintained past a certain distance without such coils. Some areas that are within range for DSL service are disqualified from eligibility because of load coil placement. Because of this phone companies are efforting to remove load coils on copper loops that can operate without them, and conditioning lines to not need them through the use of FTTN. Angel Fire phone lines are full of load coils. Qwest had to remove a load coil from our line before our new DSL would work properly. Load coils are on every phone line in our neighborhood! All types of DSL employ highly complex digital signal processing algorithms to overcome the inherent limitations of the existing twisted pair wires. Not long ago, the cost of such signal processing would have been prohibitive but because of VLSI technology, the cost of installing DSL on an existing local loop, with a DSLAM at one end and a DSL "modem" at the other end is orders of magnitude less than would be the cost of installing a new, high-bandwidth fiber-optic cable over the same route and distance.
Most residential and small-office DSL implementations reserve low frequencies for POTS service, so that with suitable filters and/or splitters the existing voice service continues to operate independent of the DSL service. Thus POTS-based communications, including fax machines and analog modems, can share the wires with DSL. Only one DSL "modem" can use the subscriber line at a time. The standard way to let multiple computers share a DSL connection is to use a router that establishes a connection between the DSL modem and a local Ethernet, Powerline, or Wi-Fi network on the customer's premises.
Once upstream and downstream channels are established, they are used to connect the subscriber to a service such as an Internet service provider.
Dry-loop DSL or "naked DSL," which does not require the subscriber to have traditional land-line telephone service, started making a comeback in the US in 2004 when Qwest started offering it, closely followed by Speakeasy. As a result of AT&T's merger with SBC,[1] and Verizon's merger with MCI,[2] those telephone companies are required to offer naked DSL to consumers. |
