KenK said:
I signed up for Centurylink DSL yesterday. I'll get it by 9/26.
If anyone here uses DSL, especially Centurylink's, how does this work?
Paul's comprehensive answers supersede this, but here's my take! (The
default here in UK - at least, for service supplied still via an old
telephone line, i. e. they don't change anything in your house - is
ADSL; when a USian talks about DSL, I'm not sure if they mean ADSL.)
DSL is how they deliver and collect the bytes; ISP is the company
you're dealing with.
That's independent of the delivery method: you send email via an SMTP
server, and collect it via a POP (sometimes called POP3) or IMAP
server. These two servers are computers at your ISP; how you connect
to them doesn't necessarily change when you change from dialup to DSL.
If you're changing ISP at the same time (have you been told your email
address will change, for example?), then the servers you use will
change and have to be changed in your email prog. (such as Outlook
Express or Thunderbird); it is _possible_ that other things might have
to change too (such as if they only offer IMAP and you've been used to
using POP), but probably not.
(I _said_ the send and receive email servers are at your ISP, because
that's how most people do it; _some_ people, especially those who
maintain a website/domain, often do things differently - i. e. the ISP
provides them with the connection only, and they use mail servers -
and other things - at other companies. I doubt this will apply to
you.)
(Note that you may have to reconfigure newsgroup access too: you seem
to be using Xnews as your news software. Once again, news access is a
separate matter from the connection method used to access it. However,
in UK at least, many ISPs _don't_ provide news access as part of the
service, unlike mail access, so you may have to change who you get
that from. There are good free news suppliers [which is what I use for
many newsgroups] and excellent cheap ones [one is 10 euros a year for
example, IIRR].)
Supplies software to replace dial-up connection internet module? For
XP Home?
You will need a - piece of hardware - MoDem to connect to the DSL,
much as you do with dialup. For dialup, the MoDem may already be built
into your PC (desktop or laptop): it's where the 'phone line plugs in.
For DSL, it's likely to be an external box: I'm unaware of any DSL
MoDem that's available as a PC card (let alone built into any laptop),
though I'm not saying such don't exist. Often, these days - in fact
almost always - the box will also contain a wifi router, which means
you can connect your computer to the box wirelessly: virtually all
laptops these days include wifi, though most desktops don't. (You can
get wifi dongles from a couple of bucks upwards, that plug into a
spare USB port. IME, unless you're going to be given a huge speed or
your computer is a long way from where you're going to put the router,
there's no point in paying more than you have to for this bit.) If the
MoDem doesn't have wifi (or your computer doesn't and you don't want
to add it), you'll have to connect to it by an ethernet cable: it will
have a suitable socket, and hopefully so will your computer. (If
you're going this route, make sure you have a cable! If unsure whether
your computer has wifi, look in Start | Settings | Network
connections; you should see your dialup connection, "Local Area
Connection" if your computer has an ethernet port, and "Wireless
Network Connection" if you have that. Along from Local Area
Connection, it will probably say "Network cable unplugged" [it does
here as I use wifi].)
The _software_ part of the connection is already part of XP, much as
it was/is with your dialup connection. You'll just plug in the DSL
box, and magically you'll have an internet connection. (Well, if wifi
is involved, you'll have to set that up. Try _not_ to load any
software that comes with the kit, unless you're adding a wifi adapter
_and_ the computer says it can't find a driver.)
You'll also - unless "DSL" _is_ different from ADSL - need some
"microfilters"; these are little boxes that plug into your telephone
sockets and have two sockets on the back, one for any telephone
equipment and one for any DSL MoDem. They stop the telephone equipment
and the DSL equipment interfering with each others' operation: if you
leave any telephone equipment (ordinary telephone, answerphone, dialup
MoDem) connected to the line in parallel with the DSL MoDem, it _may_
not work (as well, or at all, or it might not make any difference). If
the company providing your DSL service - Centurylink - is also
supplying the MoDem, they may well include a microfilter or two in the
box.
Supplies dial-up service if DSL service down?
Centurylink may or may not offer that provision; they should have told
you, anyway. I take it you _don't_ get your current dialup service
from them.
Any other clues or hints? I'd do a Google search but my 20K dial-up
connection works very very slowly on web sites.
Yes, modern web designers don't cater for it )-:. (Also, if you're
only getting 20K rather than something closer to 33K/56K [up/down],
I'm guessing your line is ropy and/or a long way from the exchange, so
- unless they're replacing parts of it at the same time - don't expect
lightning speed even after changeover: you should get a meg or two,
though, at least. Have they promised any particular speed?)
