Somebody in central office pulls up your account and inputs your date and customer class. Program is written and it blips the control panel to set your dslam connection to 768kb or whatever speed you pay for. Probably once every 24 hrs a check program runs verify that you're connection is still set 768.

DSL doesnt fluctualte in speed,, its always the same. The route your packets take to get that big download might change but your twisted pair to the CO is a stable speed. Unless you got a loose wire.

Thanks mikie, I think I understand. The modem does have lights (led) that indicate the line is on, ethernet, internet and DSL. The DSL light stays on even when the computer is off. I suppose that says the DSL is running, all the time, and as you said, at the speed purchased. I still think the Router/switch plays a key roll in what gets put on the link, and still wonder if the hight speed links/service has a higher Router priority, thus during peak load periods the higher speed links not only run faster, they get more attention by the core switching functions.

Nope,,, your co Dslam and modem if typical has about 8mb capable download and i think about 1.5 is all it will do upload. You're throttled at the DSLAM.

They occasionally work on mine and it pops to 8mb while its off the main frame that controls it. Then its like the whole WWW is on your hard drive... almost.

Mikie, given your great level of knowledge about DSL I'll expand this thread to one additional question/subject.

Each phone at the customer end has to have a filter, low pass I assume, to pass voice to the phone and block the DSL signal. In the absence of the filter the telephone will load down the DSL signal, making it inoperative. I have installed a in-line pigtail type filer in line with each of the telephones up stairs, and the system works fine. As all of the lines up stairs come from a common twisted pair in the basement, can I install one filter in that line in the basement and take the individual filters out of the lines connecting to each phone? I add, I tried to do this by using a wall mounted filter arrangement provided by the teleco, and it didn't work. This unit is not a pigtail, rather a plate-type unit that fits on top of the "standard" wall outlet that has mounting tabs top and bottom. The plate type unit has an RJ11 marked DSL (which I understand to be the raw local loop, no filter) and another RJ11 on the side marked DSL/HPN which I assumed to be the filtered telephone connection plug. Using this unit with the modem connected to the DSL and the line going upstairs to the DSL/HPN didn't work, it "killed" the DSL signal at the modem.

diy, Putting a single filter on the incoming line with a new cat3 run bypassing that filter is popular for the alot of dsl users seeking the best signal at the modem.

If your wires are good and not real far from the CO its no real benefit to isolate the modem feed line,, it wont really matter. The modem/dslam correct for signal pretty well on each end, unless its something serious.

Seems like if you have more than five wired phone connections in a home some of the telco's will come change out the dmark junction box to a true dsl splitter box and run you a dedicated line to the modem. Free here.
So some plug in a lot of phones and call them up and if they ask nice they get a free splitter and new chunk of wire (stapled under an eve, along a baseboard, wrapped over a door, glued with putty,,, etc ;)

Long time customers that are paying wiring maintenance monthly fee get lots of free perks and can ask nicely and get most anything like that done.

Usually if you are missing a filter on a phone the phone will pick up a lot of noise and the dsl connection will be on/off inconsistently/intermittently.

Thanks, that sounds like what I was trying to do, a single filer on my side of the dmark box, just a foot or two from the basement wall mounted RJ11. I in fact have a splice box that the dmark box feeds. I had two line up to today, one was used for fax and dial-up, the other for voice. A short run, about another 6" of untwisted (just two pieces of telephone wire) wire goes to the wall mounted RJ11, to which I connected the aforementioned supplied unit that has two RJ11 connections, marked as noted in last post. This didn't work, but given your valuable input I may try again, making sure I don't add some other mistake. The subject unit is called: EXCELSUS, Z-BLOCKER, MODEL Z-300CW, DSL FILTER. Web site in noted: www.excelsus-tech.com I may take a look on the web to see if there is documentation no exactly what this unit is and is intended for. The self installation kit provided by the teleco didn't explain fully. I can also go on a "chat" with the teleco, but have taken my questions here for the moment, and do appreciate the additional input.

I went to the web site and got enough additional information on the wall mounted filter to get it connected correctly. It is now in line with the modem and has telephones hanging of the single line jack. All is working, but I can't say it is working better, I have no way of measuring performance and the DSL has worked well all along anyway. The DSL/HPN jack goes to the modem, and the DSL goes to the telephones, just the opposite of what I assumed on my first connection.

If interested, My DSL server Bell South (now ATT) has a DSL speed checker site that I go to ocassionally to see if they are lieing. Ha! Don't know who your server is , but you may have the same deal SOMEWHERE. Receive is about 1.5 gigs and send is about 255 megs. A lot faster than my previous Stone-age Sloooooow Dial up. Grady

Thanks "grady", I'm with Embarq DSL even though I continue to maintain my/our Worldnet account (only $5.95 with zero dial-up access time).

I wonder if you've gotten your "decimal point" off in your numbers. Isn't high speed download for DSL 1.5 Meg, not Gig?
With a slower upload. I haven't checked, those are the limits I recall.