Why Does DSL Need Only One Wire?
DSL refers to a digital subscriber line, a high-speed technology that utilizes bandwidth information and transmits digital data to homes and businesses through a copper telephone line. DSL can operate on a shared wire or telephone line, but may be split outside the home to prevent interference.
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Function
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DSL installation was introduced in 1998. Through your phone service provider, your home or business can be connected to DSL through your pre-existing telephone line. Copper wires are wound around one another in a technique called "twisted pair." Instead of exchanging voice data, it transmits digital data through the line, operating at a higher frequency and using a wider bandwidth. DSL can provide individuals with up to 1.544 Mbps continuous flow of video and audio.
How it works
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A phone service will connect your home or small business to a telephone company. Instead of exchanging voice information, it transmits an analog signal. DSL is a technology that assumes digital data does not require changing into analog form and back, as it transmits data to your computer directly and allows the phone company to use a much wider bandwidth for transmitting it to you.
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Interference
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As long as the DSL technology is installed correctly, it will not interfere with your telephone or other electronic equipment connected to the telephone line. DSL signals can use one line rather than many because it operates on frequencies that are above those used to transmit voice data.
Splitting
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Interference results from telephones or other electronic equipment. This is because most electronic devices do not have circuitry designed to prevent them from interfering with DSL frequencies, as most of these devices were built before the introduction of DSL. As long as the equipment is properly installed by your service provider, however, there should not be any interference. Service providers can fix this by installing a split outside the phone line to prevent interference, so even though both are using a single telephone line, a DSL line and a telephone line are split from the same wire.
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References
- Photo Credit telephone pole image by robert mobley from Fotolia.com
