Computersight -

People think they know how email works on the Internet, and how the webpage they are viewing actually gets to the computer screen. The following terms are acronyms that have meanings you can use to track down problems in your computer. This way, you may not have to call the help desk to figure out if the problem is actually on your computer, or if it is on their server.

DSL= this means digital subscriber loop. What this does is gives your data to the Internet over a copper wire, and it’s used for phone services.

ADSL= this means your download speed is faster than your upload speed when it comes to Internet service.

SDSL= this means that both the upload and download speeds are the same on your computer.

Your DSL Circuit is completed in a not so complex manner: Your computer is connected to the modem or has an internal modem. Now your modem connects to the local DSL remote for your Internet Service Provider. These can be seen all over the place on corners of roads and such. They are the large gray terminals that sit alone, with nothing going into and nothing coming out of them. All the wiring is underground, so you really would just think it is an empty box. Now it simply connects to the Internet Service Provider’s database such as AOL. For your computer to use a DSL Circuit, you have to have a network ready operating system, or a network adapter, or a network interface card known as a NIC. Your computer normally will come with an operating system such as Linux or Macintosh, and Microsoft Windows. These are all examples of network ready operating systems, or IPv4.

To locate your own network adapter, locate and click on My Computer on your desktop or in your Start button. Open this and then click on Properties, and now just click on Device Manager, and then Network Adapter. This brings up your network adapter information, and you can tell the technician you speak to what it looks like. If yours doesn’t say wireless, then it will be a Broadband connection in most cases. When using Vista, click on the Windows icon where the start button used to be, then on Control Panel. Now, click on Classic View on the left hand side and then on your Device Manager. You should hit Continue, and then your Network Adapter. If it is operating right, there will be a normal icon directly next to this. If your icon is yellow, or even has an exclamation point next to it, then there is a problem that can be fixed. If this is red, the network adapter is disabled, and this only takes a few clicks to fix with the right instructions.