Broadband Access

There are two main types of broadband Internet access available to residential customers today:  digital subscriber lines (DSL) that use telephone lines, and cable connections provided by cable TV companies. 

DSL includes technologies such as ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) and SDSL (Symmetric Digital Subscriber Line).

Television Tower - Berlin

The cable modem's "first-to-market" position gave it an early lead among high-speed Internet technologies.  DSL, however, has made strong strides. A number of new broadband technologies are also becoming available.

A broadband speed of 2.5 Mbps or more is generally recommended to watch standard definition television broadcasts on a computer.  To watch high definition broadcasts, a speed of 10 Mbps is needed.