[colug-432] Phone Line Connections

[Rick Hornsby]

> Is DSL sensitive to this kind of stuff when one is far from the 
> DSL company's modem? 

DSL is very sensitive to distance from the CO in general, yes.  If you notice gray or brown cabinets on concrete pads popping up all over town - maybe somewhere near your neighborhood, it is probably a DSLAM.  Previously, if you were more than X distance from the central office, your service sucked.  If you were more than X+1, your service didn't work at all.  Generally, the closer to the CO the better your speed could be.

The DSLAMs effectively move the CO to your neighborhood (or at least within 18000 feet - roughly the limit of DSL over copper) by terminating the copper into the box and switching over to fiber.

http://www.skullbox.net/dslam.php