How to Make a Long Distance Relationship Work: DSL Availability and You
There are three factors to keep in mind when contemplating DSL availability: Distance, distance, distance. Well, that's one word three times, but it's still the most important factor in whether you get DSL service and what level of quality you can expect.
This distance means that DSL availability has yet to reach every corner of the country, despite popular demand. We'll look at why this is and what secondary factors matter, below.
Copper Wires
Regular DSL, the sort you'd order for home service from a provider like Yahoo, is carried from the provider to your house by the pair of copper wires that are already carrying your phone service.
As a digital signal travels farther and farther from its source, it degrades. Think of it like a radio station you're listening to when suddenly you drive through mountains. The signal dissolves into a bunch of unintelligible static. The same thing happens to a digital signal.
So generally, you have to live within 18,000 feet of the service provider to qualify for DSL availability. No one expects you to get a ruler and measure the distance to the nearest service provider. There are several websites that will let you input your address, then tell you whether or not you qualify.
Even if you're within 18,000 feet and do qualify for DSL availability, the closer you are to the provider's office, the faster your DSL will be. Service at 9,000 feet distance is nearly eight times as fast as service over 18,000 feet.
Load Coils
A secondary factor affecting DSL availability is a tiny device installed by some phone companies called a 'load coil.'
The copper wires carrying your phone service have a broad bandwidth - that is, they can handle a wide range of frequencies. The human voice is clearest from 300 to 3,400 Hz, so that's the portion of wire reserved for telephone calls.
When the telecomms decided to add DSL availability to the same copper wires, they opted to use frequencies in the 4,000 Hz and up range. This shouldn't have been a problem except that some companies had added load coils to the wire lines.
Load coils enhance the lower frequencies. This equals clearer voice transmission, but can interfere with DSL availability. Ask your telephone service provider if this is the case on your lines. You might want to consider going with a cable provider instead.
So don't take it personally if you find out you don't qualify for DSL availability. The problem is with the telecomm, not you!
