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ADSL FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ)

Q1. What is ADSL?

Q2. How is it delivered?

Q3. Does my phone line still work?

Q4. Can I use an analogue line taken from my BT telephone switch?

Q5. What if I don't have a line available?

Q6. Does the line need to be a BT telephone line?

Q7. What if I order the telephone line but then can't have ADSL?

Q8. Can I use an ISDN-2 line?

Q9. Can everyone have ADSL?

Q10. What do I need to have ADSL?

Q11. How do I know if I can have ADSL?

Q12. I've got an analogue telephone line and I want to go ahead what else should I know?

Q13. What happens at install?

Q14. What's the lead-time for ADSL?

Q15. What does "asymmetric" mean?

Q16. How fast is ADSL?

Q17. What are the flavours called?

Q18. Someone has mentioned "rate adaptive" to me - what is it?

Q19. What does the "+" mean?

Q20. Hold on, what do the different speeds mean?

Q21. Is ADSL suitable for very heavy bandwidth use?

Q22. Is contention a problem?

Q23. Do I get any IP addresses?

Q24. What about mail?

Q25. What can I use ADSL for?

Q26. I've heard ADSL is unreliable?

Q27. Can you offer ISDN backup for ADSL?

Q28. If my ADSL fails does this affect my telephone line?

Q29. What sort of repair times can I expect if my ADSL line breaks?

Q30. Can someone discuss ADSL and if it's suitable for my business?

Q1. What is ADSL?

ADSL is a new way to connect to the Internet. It is a permanent connection to the Internet that works over an ordinary analogue BT telephone line (the type of line most people have in their house). It allows you to connect to the Internet at high speed for a fixed fee per month - there are no phone call charges.

Q2. How is it delivered?

It is delivered over an ordinary BT telephone line. BT make some changes to your existing phone line by splitting your existing telephone line signal into two - one for voice and the other for data.

Q3. Does my phone line still work?

Yes it still operates as normal. Although the ring tone may sound slightly different afterwards - this doesn't affect its operation.

Q4. Can I use an analogue line taken from my BT telephone switch?

No - ADSL requires a true BT analogue line. This is because they actually move your telephone line in the BT exchange onto a new piece of equipment.

Q5. What if I don't have a line available?

You'll need to buy a new telephone line from BT which can then have ADSL added to it.

Q6. Does the line need to be a BT telephone line?

Yes it does.

Q7. What if I order the telephone line but then can't have ADSL?

Unfortunately you must uphold the contract for the telephone line with BT. The telephone line and the ADSL service are separate contracts. The telephone line is an agreement between yourself and BT. The ADSL is a contract between yourself and Twang. Both are subject to minimum contract terms.

Q8. Can I use an ISDN-2 line?

Not for the ADSL service directly. However BT do offer a conversion option. They will convert your ISDN line into a normal telephone line and then apply the ADSL service to it.

Q9. Can everyone have ADSL?

Only around 60% of UK homes and business are in range for ADSL. It depends the distance your phone line has to run to the exchange

Q10. What do I need to have ADSL?

The 500 Service is a home or remote user service and uses a Universal Serial Bus (USB) modem. USB is a PC interface format, which replaces serial, parallel, keyboard, and mouse interfaces.

USB Solution

The Twang 500, 500+, 1000+, 2000+ services utilise Ethernet technology which connects to your Local Area Network. If your computer supports TCP/IP, you can use our ADSL routers.

Q11. How do I know if I can have ADSL?

Contact the Twang Sales Team on 01635 239000 or email us at sales@twang.net

Q12. I've got an analogue telephone line and I want to go ahead what else should I know?

After install ordinary modems used over the line may operate at a reduced speed

Not all BT telephone services are compatible. The following equipment/services may make a line unsuitable for ADSL; note this list is not exhaustive:

Q13. What happens at install?

BT will convert the master telephone socket. They will then check any extension sockets connected to the line to see if they are compatible. If they are not compatible with ADSL but BT installed them, then they will be repaired free of charge. If the sockets were not installed by BT and prove to be incompatible they will be disconnected. The BT engineer can reconnect them but that will be a chargeable service. Should the customer decide not to allow the BT engineer to do this the ADSL service will not be installed and an abortive visit will be charged.

Q14. What's the lead-time for ADSL?

This depends on the ADSL solution that you are interested in. Contact our Sales team on 01635 239000 for further information

Q15. What does "asymmetric" mean?

It is called 'asymmetric' because it moves data more quickly from exchange to the customer than from the customer to the exchange. This makes it particularly suitable for applications where customers expect to receive (download) more data than they transmit (upload).

Q16. How fast is ADSL?

ADSL works asymmetrically - it has a different upload speed to download speed.

Upload is typically 250Kbps and download can be picked from 500Kbps, 1000Kbps or 2000Kbps.

Q17. What are the flavours called?

Q18. Someone has mentioned, "rate adaptive" to me - what is it?

Rate adaptive allows ADSL to reach many more homes and business. What it does is to accommodate for lines that are a greater distance from the BT exchange. It works by reducing the upload rate. This is enabled on all ADSL lines by default, and it may mean that your upload speed might drop to only 128Kbps or perhaps lower.

Q19. What does the "+" mean?

The standard 500 version is delivered as a USB modem and is suitable for a single PC or home use. The + version is delivered with by a router with Ethernet ports and suitable for a network. The "+" version is often called the business version of ADSL.

Q20. What does the different speeds mean?

Well the upload speed is the speed upstream towards the Internet. This means if you host a web server at the end of your ADSL line then the maximum speed anyone could access it at would be 250Kbps. However, if you were web browsing and you had 2000Kbps variant then you could access a web server at 2000Kbps. This means that ADSL is geared towards putting users at the end of your ADSL line not hosting services.

Q21. Is ADSL suitable for very heavy bandwidth use?

No, ADSL can be a highly contended medium. This means that the bandwidth available for ADSL users is shared between other ADSL users. The bandwidth is not per ISP either; all ISP's share the bandwidth. If you are after a medium for streaming technology then you need to look at other options.

Q22. Is contention a problem?

The ADSL business variants are contended at 10:1 within Twang's network. This does mean that at busy times you won't necessarily be able to get full access to all the bandwidth. The bandwidth figures for ADSL are not guaranteed values. Before the ADSL line reaches Twang it crosses BT's IP network which we have no control over. In contrast our leased lines are fixed bandwidth circuits and customers have a guaranteed bandwidth to Twang's network.

Q23. Do I get any IP addresses?

Twang's ADSL offerings all come with the option of static IP addresses.

Q24. What about mail?

POP mail is highly recommended for ADSL solutions and only in extreme cases would Twang allow SMTP because there can be potential issues using SMTP mail. If the ADSL line goes down, customers who are on SMTP mail will be unable to collect mail. The average repair time for ADSL is 3 working days and this poses a problem for companies that rely on email to operate their business - with POP mail you can dial in and collect email regardless if the line is up or down.

Q25. What can I use ADSL for?

Suitability of applications for ADSL depends on the Upload and Download bandwidth required to use an application. Certain applications that are bandwidth intensive on uploading will not be suitable for ADSL because the upload speed is always restricted to 256Kbps. The table below can be used as a guide:

Application Upstream/Upload Downstream/Download ADSL Suitability
Internet Access Low-Mid High Yes
Intranet Access Low-Mid High Yes
Personal Web Hosting High Low-Mid No
File Download Use Low High Yes
File Upload High Low No
Video Conference Mid-High Mid-High No
Video On Demand Low High Yes

Q26. I've heard ADSL is unreliable?

ADSL is often described as an "almost" always on service. Its fault repair times are much longer than a leased line and there have been several major outages, which have taken out most of the country. ADSL is an excellent high bandwidth service but Twang do advise customers that it is not the best choice if you need 100% uptime of business applications.

Q27. Can you offer ISDN backup for ADSL?

Yes. Contact our sales team for more information.

Q28. If my ADSL fails does this affect my telephone line?

It is possible - as the line has been altered, certain problems will stop both the telephone and ADSL service from working.

Q29. What sort of repair times can I expect if my ADSL line breaks?

BT only repairs ADSL during Monday - Friday 8am - 5pm. It typically takes anywhere from a few hours to a couple of days for a fault to be repaired.

Twang recommends customers keep the long fix time in mind and use appropriate services to allow for this. E.g. We currently recommend customer utilise POP accounts to collect mail as in the event of the ADSL failing you can collect mail from a POP account via another connectivity method for example via a modem.

Q30. Can someone discuss ADSL and if it's suitable for my business?

Contact the Twang Sales Team on 01635 239000