Asymmetric Digital SUBSCRIBER Line is a high-speed Internet access service that uses your telephone line to send and receive Internet data at much faster speeds than a conventional dial-up connection. With ADSL you are connected to the Internet 24 hours a day (“Always On”). You no longer need to dial up to open your Internet connection. You can also make and receive telephone calls while online. This is because the ADSL SIGNAL operates on a digital frequency, while the voice SIGNALS (telephone conversation), operate on an analogue frequency. Voice data and Internet data can, THEREFORE, travel along the line simultaneously. The "asymmetric" in ADSL refers to the fact that the data being received by your computer from the Internet (downstream data / downloading), travels at a faster speed than data travelling from your computer to the Internet (upstream data / UPLOADING). 

Most general users will download more data than they will upload, so the slower upstream speed is not a problem. For example, when you click on a hyperlink, your browser sends a few characters upstream to request the page that the hyperlink points to, and the page then comes downstream (downloads) to your PC so you can see it.

Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line is a high-speed Internet access service that uses your telephone line to send and receive Internet data at much faster speeds than a conventional dial-up connection. With ADSL you are connected to the Internet 24 hours a day (“Always On”). You no longer need to dial up to open your Internet connection. You can also make and receive telephone calls while online. This is because the ADSL signal operates on a digital frequency, while the voice signals (telephone conversation), operate on an analogue frequency. Voice data and Internet data can, therefore, travel along the line simultaneously. The "asymmetric" in ADSL refers to the fact that the data being received by your computer from the Internet (downstream data / downloading), travels at a faster speed than data travelling from your computer to the Internet (upstream data / uploading). 

Most general users will download more data than they will upload, so the slower upstream speed is not a problem. For example, when you click on a hyperlink, your browser sends a few characters upstream to request the page that the hyperlink points to, and the page then comes downstream (downloads) to your PC so you can see it.