ADSL is a type of broadband technology that allows for digital data to be sent at high speeds along already-existing copper telephone lines, while allowing for the transmission of analog (voice) data at the same time. ADSL is Asymmetric in that it uses most of the channel the channel to transmit "downstream" data to the user, and a much smaller part to receive "upstream" data sent by the user.
Although there are wide ranges of ADSL configurations available, the most common type of connection offers maximum transmission speeds of approximately 1.5 Mbps upstream, and 128 Kbps upstream. This is considerably faster than an ordinary dialup internet connection.
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