The main thing to look for when buying an ADSL broadband connection is it's speed, this is stated in the amount of data that it can receive (as well as send, this is always slower and less important) and is measured in Megabytes (MB) per second or for some slower ADSL broadband connections Kilobytes (KB). The more data the ADSL broadband connection can receive per second the faster it will be so if you want a fast connection then always buy the fastest ADSL broadband connection that you can afford, if however you are a light user and only browse a few web pages and send a few emails then a slower ADSL broadband connection will be fine as the files you access are very small.

Using an ADSL broadband package is very easy, they usually come with an ADSL modem and all of the cables that you will need. There is one important thing that you need to know before you begin, ADSL splits the line into two channels with one for the broadband Internet connection and one for your telephone calls. Because of this you have to use small devices called micro filters on all of your telephone sockets, they plug into the telephone socket and have two ports: one for an ADSL modem and one for a telephone. So you have to place a micro filter on every telephone socket and even if it only has a single telephone connected to it, this is because the ADSL and telephone signals need to be kept separate and can cause problems if micro filters are not used. Most broadband packages come with at least one micro filter and they are very cheap to buy online, they are also very easy to set up so you just have to remember to put a micro filter on every telephone socket that is in use in your home.

Once you have your micro filters in place you simply have to connect your ADSL broadband modem that came with the ADSL broadband package to a telephone socket (using a micro filter) and then connect the ADSL modem to your computer using the provided USB cable. You then simply run the installation software CD that came with the ADSL broadband package which will guide you through setting up the ADSL broadband, some require that you do not connect the ADSL modem to your computer before you run the installation so in that case simply leave the USB cable un-plugged and ready to plug in near your computer. During the installation process you will have to enter the details that you will have received such as the user name, password and a few other settings for the ADSL broadband connection that you have purchased, this is fairly simple and you will usually receive this information with your package or in an email.

So an ADSL broadband connection is easy to use and cheap which is why it is by far the most popular type of broadband connection used in the UK, it is easily fast enough for almost any kind of Internet usage and there are packages available which are very fast indeed and will download large files very quickly. There are many ADSL broadband providers including AOL, Tesco, Bulldog, BT, Wanadoo, NTL, Tiscali, Telewest and Virgin and lots of them have some very cheap deals so it is best to shop around.