National Capital FreeNet (NCF)
Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (aDSL)
Although it is usually called "DSL", it's really aDSL. See this link for a lot of good information.
In the following diagram (from the above Wikipedia link), the red area represents the voice frequencies, and the filters on your telephones are intended to keep the Upstream & Downstream aDSL signal energy out of this area (i.e. out of your ear). That is so your modem sees the maximum amount of the Downstream signal energy, and delivers the maximum Upstream energy to the modem at the other end of your telephone wire. This will result in the highest data rate possible for your location.
The modem/router recommended by NCF has been shown to deliver at least SOME DSL performance, faster than dial-up, to members who had been turned down by other DSL providers. AND, this equipment is "future proof" because it also handles future formats such as "ADSL2".
For Example, from "upgrade project" by Richard Paiement:
(2006) Jan-09 11:18
DSL service is finally in place, since last Saturday. Bell struck out twice, on December 14th and 22nd, when they were supposed to do the install and somehow managed to screw up both times. A Bell Nexxia technician finally came over on Jan. 7th to discover, after about an hour of work, that the physical install at the CO was not done properly.
Now everything works, but I'm limited in speed because I'm told I'm at ~6.5 km from the CO. I've been capped by configuration at Bell Nexxia to 672 kbps down and 160 kbps up to minimize errors / retries / wasted bandwidth. Testing over the last few days is showing I can reach speeds between 450 and 570 kbps, which isn't high-speed, but it's better than the 22 kbps I was getting with dial-up, and it's no longer tying up my phone line. My Speedtouch modem is showing 63.0 dB attenuation down and 31.5 dB up, with 24.0 dB on both links.
My modem is installed at the demarcation point to ensure maximum speed. With his tester, the Bell Nexxia technician measured maximum speed at the demarcation point at around 700 kbps so I'm not going to get any better until Bell improves their network, i.e., build a new CO closer to where I live, and this is a possibility as the technician was saying the continued development in my area will force Bell to do this eventually. The other thing that may help improve my speed somewhat is the deployment of ADSL2 and ADSL2+, but I've not been able to find out when this will happen, and whether it depends entirely on Bell Nexxia, or if Teksavvy or others in the food chain have some involvment.
I wish to thank two NCF volunteers, Brian S. and especially Dan B. for promptly and regularly following up with Bell to get things sorted out. Bell lived up to its reputation ... poor customer service - I spare you the details but Dan knows what I'm talking about in this case, and I think we have all had bad experiences with Bell. No one could have done any better, other service providers would have suffered the same problems with Bell, and I don't think they would have been as prompt to inform me of developments as NCF volunteers have been. I'm proud to be giving my money to NCF instead of Sympatico.
Cheers
Richard