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DSL stands for Digital Subscriber Line and is an always on connection to the Internet. DSL service is placed on your existing telephone line, running over standard copper telephone lines. It allows you to have high-speed Internet access with a minimum of specialized equipment and cost. A DSL connection allows you to use the same Internet resources you have used in the past with dial-up service, but now you can use them without having to "dial in". This also means there are no worries about disconnections and waiting during a login to access the Internet. The most prominent feature of DSL, however, is the speed. DSL often has connection speeds that will download in seconds what used to take minutes over a dial-up connection.

DSL service comes in a variety of speeds and there are a lot of factors that can affect your DSL speed.

A DSL line has 2 different speeds: download and upload. Download is traffic (ie. information) coming to your machine. Upload is a request for information or traffic leaving your machine. Upload speed is usually around one half of download speed. Iowa Telecom has four different packages for DSL service. You can see those packages on our Products pages.

If we offer DSL service in your community you can probably get DSL service if your phone line is not more than three miles from the central telephone office in your area. DSL signal becomes less functional the longer the phone line is.

A DSL line with 768k service is going to download information more than ten times faster than your old 56k service.

DSL service is a signal traveling over copper telephone line. This signal gets weaker and degrades the further it travels over the wire. Signal on a line less than 5,000 feet from the central office is very strong and usually error free. Signal on a line over 18,000 feet from the central office is almost non-existant. The longer your telephone line is from the central office to your house, the weaker your signal, and therefore your service, is going to be.

It is possible to extend service over the 18,000 feet limit, but it requires special equipment that may not be available in your area and service is not guaranteed even if the special equipment is used.