Asynchronous Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL)

An asymmetric high-speed digital network connection, usually between a home or small business and a telecommunications vendor, providing an always-up direct connection to an Internet Service Provider (ISP) . The upstream (from the user to the ISP) and downstream (from the ISP to the user) speeds are dissimilar, and usually the latter is faster than the former. See also Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) , Symmetric Digital Subscriber Line (SDSL) .