
		Broadband Glossary D - Definitions beginning with D

Broadband Glossary "D" Definitions

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Welcome to our Broadband Glossary. We compiled a comprehensive collection of Broadband and Internet related terms and definitions. To look for a definition or term, simply click on the letter that matches the first letter of the word you are searching for. If the term you want is a numeral, you will find it under the 0-9 listing.

We intend for our Broadband Glossary to be ever expanding. As new technology is released, we will add these definitions to our Glossary. If you cannot find the term you are searching for, please contact us and we will add it to the Broadband glossary as quickly as possible. We hope that you find this Broadband Glossary easy to navigate and that you find the term you're looking for.

Dial-up Access: The ability to dial-up the Internet, at speeds up to 56 Kilobytes per second (Kbps), through a modem using a standard telephone line.
Digital Subscriber Line or DSL: DSL is a technology developed to send high-speed transmissions over standard copper telephone wires.
See also Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL).
Domain Name: A network connection address. It indicates the address owner in this format:
Server.Organization.Type. An example is: www.DSL-Experts.com, where "www" is the server, "DSL-Experts" is the organization, and "com" is the type.
Domain Name System or DNS: A system used by computers on the Internet to translate computer ("host") names into IP addresses. When you are browsing the Internet and you want to connect to a specific machine (Web server), you simply type its domain name in the address window of your computer's browser. For example, if you were looking for DSL-Experts.com, you would simply type www.DSL-Experts.com into the address window of your browser.

Domain names usually consist of the name of an organization, followed by a period (called a "dot"), and an ending abbreviation signifying the type of the organization, such as:

.com: Commercial Organization
.edu: Educational Institution
.gov: Government Organization
.int: International Organization
.mil: United States Military
.net: Internet Service Provider
.org: Non-Profit Organization

Sample domain names include DSL-Experts.com, Verizon.com and DSL.edu.
Web sites located outside the United States use domain names that end in abbreviations indicating the country of origin. (For example, .uk for the United Kingdom, and .mx for Mexico.)
Download: The process of copying a file from another computer to your computer, using the Internet. Opposite of upload.
Download Speed: The rate at which data is transferred to your computer from the Internet.
DSL Filters: A type of device that connects to telephone jacks in order to facilitate a DSL Internet connection. This device allows your modem signal and normal telephone activities (i.e., faxing, calling) to operate in tandem and without one interfering with the other.
DSL Lite: Also called G.Lite, splitterless ADSL, and Universal ADSL. This is a slower ADSL that does not require splitting of the line at the user end but manages to split it for the user remotely at the telephone company. This means that it is not necessary for a technician to come to you for installation. DSL Lite provides a data rate from 1.544 Mbps to 6 Mpbs downstream and from 128 Kbps to 384 Kbps upstream. DSL Lite is expected to become the most widely installed form of DSL.
Dynamic IP Addressing: A temporary form of addressing used by DSL. When you log onto the Internet, you are assigned an IP address from a pool of addresses. When you log off, the IP address is returned to the pool. Having a Dynamic IP address means that each time that modem accesses the Internet, it will have a different address. You do not need to set up the address each time you go online.
Dynamic: Moving or changing. In telecommunications, dynamic means that hardware and software respond instantly to changes. The contents of dynamic Web pages are ever changing. They are likely to differ each time you visit their Web site on the Internet. Static pages, however, are the opposite as they never change.
Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol or DHCP: Protocol used to connect to the Internet with an assigned temporary IP address.