Dowco ADSL FAQ's

What is ADSL?
ADSL stands for Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line. It is new technology developed to drastically increase the speed at which you are able to download information from the Internet. ADSL uses your existing phone line. One major benefit of ADSL is that you can place a phone call and surf the Internet at the same time.

What will Internet ADSL do for me?
Internet ADSL service will not only provide you with the convenience of browsing the Internet while being able to receive your regular telephone calls, it will also greatly reduce the amount of time you spend on the internet, as your information will be getting to you up to 500% faster than when using a conventional dial-up modem. This means almost instantaneous webpage loading, blazing fast data transfer speeds, and smoother reception of streaming audio/video over the internet. The difference will simply amaze you.

Do I need anything special?
Some special equipment is necessary for ADSL service. The necessary items are: ADSL modem - This may be either purchased or rented directly from us. Ethernet card - A special card that fits into a slot inside your computer, making it possible for you to network with other machines. ADSL provides you with an ethernet-based connection to the Internet. The customer is responsible for providing his or her own ethernet card.

If I transmit data while I'm on the telephone, will my phone service transmission be compromised?
No. Regular voice conversations use less than one per cent of a telephone line's capacity. ADSL technology uses the remaining 99 per cent to transmit information 50 to 150 times faster than a conventional 28.8 Kbps modem. ADSL technology takes advantage of unused capacity by dividing a copper telephone line into hundreds of segments, each of which is large enough to carry one telephone call.

Will Internet Dowco ADSL Service slow down when there are many simultaneous users?
No. Unlike Cable Internet access, your ADSL connection is not shared with others. There are no line-ups or traffic jams with ADSL technology because each user has their own dedicated high-speed connection to the Internet. You may experience some variation in speed if you have more than one computer linked simultaneously to ADSL from your home or when accessing slow Web sites.

Does ADSL work on all types of Telephone lines?
ADSL uses the copper phone wires to provide service. If your phone lines uses a fibre-optic connection the service will not work. Service will work with your existing telephone service and SmartTouch features as well as with most Enterphone systems (although an Enterphone may cause a slight interruption in the data stream). The ADSL services are not compatible with Centrix, ISDN, or Inter-Connect lines

What if my computer is not a PC or Apple Macintosh or I'm not using one of the supported Operating Systems?
PCs running Windows 95 or later, Windows NT 3.5 or later, or Mac OS System 7.5.3 or later with Open Transport 1.1 or later will work with ADSL. Your computer and operating system must also support HTTP standards. However, customer service and technical support is not available for unsupported platforms or operating systems.

There are some Web sites and servers that I cannot view from my computer. Why is this?
There could be a number of reasons why you would be unable to see a Web site, including:
Incorrectly configured The Web site m not be configured correct, meaning that any connection attempt to the Web site would fall.
Web site upgrades
Most Web seats are continually upgraded or updated. Conn attempts during upgrades ap fail.
Heavy traffic
Heavy traffic online could affect the ability to view seats.

How does ADSL work?
ADSL runs as an additional service on the the same pair of wires used for your regular telephone service--without disrupting phone conversations. With ADSL, your connection remains active 24/7; you can access the Internet at any time without having to dial anything. ADSL provides downstream data transmission rates of approximately 50 times faster than a dial-up modem. Please note that the exact data transmission rates vary depending on the distance between your computer and a telephone Central Office, as well as on individual site traffic on the web.

Can I move my high speed modem to another room?
Within limits. The service will be set up to work with one wall jack in your home. You can move the connection around so long as the high speed modem is still attached to that wall jack. You will not be able to move it great distances.

Will people calling me get a busy signal when I'm using the Net?
No, your phone line remains free for phone calls, faxes, modem connections or anything else you would normally use the phone for.

How does ADSL compare to existing cable modem services?
Unlike cable modem service that relies on a network shared by all cable subscribers in one particular area, ADSL’s technology provides a dedicated connection between your home and telephone line secure network. Your Internet ADSL connection also provides you with your own, dedicated bandwidth. Performance is not degraded during heavy traffic periods. In contrast, cable modem networks are configured as contention networks, which means each user's data must compete with all in that same "loop" for upstream and downstream bandwidth. In addition to this, Internet ADSL service does not require you to subscribe to cable service.

What are the minimum hardware & software requirements?
For PC Users:
Pentium 100 MHz (or faster)
Windows 95, 98, NT, or 2000
4x CD-ROM drive
32 MB of RAM or higher
40 MB of available hard disk space
Ethernet card (already installed) with transceiver (10 Base-T with RJ-45 style plugs) and drivers installed
For Mac Users:
PowerPC processor
Mac OS 7.6 or higher (with Open Transport)
4x CD-ROM drive
32 MB of RAM or higher
40 MB of available hard disk space
Ethernet card (already installed) with transceiver (10 Base-T with RJ-45 style plugs) and drivers installed

I already run a network in my home/business, how will this work?
Installation costs are based on setting up our high speed service to run on a single computer system in a non-networked environment. Installation and configuration for a multi-user environment is the responsibility of the customer. In such cases, we would install, configure and verify the performance of the high speed modem. You would be responsible for hooking up the connection to your network or networked computer.