DSL FAQs
- Q. Can I FAX over DSL?
- A. You cannot FAX over a DSL connection, but you can still send and receive faxes over your regular telephone lines.
Upgrading to DSL may add a DSL modem of some kind, but if you keep your old modem, you can still use software fax products like winfaxpro. You simply use your telephone line as before, by plugging a telephone line into your dial-up modem as before. This holds true whether or not you get ADSL over your home phone or SDSL on another line.
You may also try the internet solution, and subscribe to a service like jfax.com or efax.com which provides your own dedicated fax number, and you may send faxes using a utility, and receive fax messages (and voice messages!) in your mail inbox. You might also check out faxbeep.com for a list of internet fax providers.
- Q. My email is with MSN/AOL - Can I keep it?
- A. Almost any popular email accounts (hotmail, MSN, AOL) can be accessed from anywhere, with the appropriate mail client setup, or via the web.
AOL has an option for email usage via another (DSL) provider. Also Earthlink email can continue to be used without any reconfiguration, as can many other ISPs including MSN.
Once you get your DSL line, you can continue to use and maintain your old email account, if you continue to pay them.
Although rules for different mail systems differ, you may find you can purchase a minimum (MSN or AOL or Earthlink etc) plan that still allows full use of your mailbox, or email could be set to forward to your new address, while you tell people about it.
- Q. Do I need another telephone line to use DSL?
- A. That answer to this question is maybe. It usually depends on your local telephone company and DSL technology.
In the majority of circumstances, the answer is "no"; A single phone line is all that is required (i.e. line-sharing). ADSL operates at a different set of frequencies than standard voice telephones. The difference in frequencies allows both voice traffic and IP (internet) traffic to co-exist on the same physical phone line. You simply need to obtain line filters (usually provided by your chosen service as part of your setup package) to plug in to the wall jacks you wish to use for normal voice telephones.
- Q. Will my MAC work with DSL?
- A. The Macintosh computing platform accesses the internet through the same protocols that the Windows computing platform does. This means that theoretically, any type of internet service Windows computers can use, the Macintosh can as well.
