What is a VDSL router and why should it be used?

There is no doubt that using the internet has become essential in our daily lives. Besides its importance in managing business operations for companies, banks, and institutions in general, the internet has also become a vital element in our personal lives to stay connected through social media sites and keep up with the latest news in various fields. Moreover, the increased use of smart devices, from phones to TV screens, and even smart home appliances, all of which rely on the internet to function and stay connected to other devices, whether it’s a server providing a service or other devices.

With the advancement of all elements of information technology in general, the internet has also seen many developments to keep up with this progress. Starting from the primitive internet connection through Dail-UP, then moving to fast internet or ADSL, the emergence of home routers, and the increased support and development of internet speeds through ADSL 2, and finally, the appearance of VDSL technology, which supports very high download speeds exceeding 50 Mbps, leading to the necessity of using a specialized router compatible with this type of connection. In the following lines, we will understand why it is important to change your router and use a VDSL-supportive router if you want to utilize high internet speeds.

Initially, to understand the importance and reason for the emergence of VDSL in general, we must go back a little to the past. When the internet started to spread in the late 1990s and early 2000s, we relied on a connection called Dail-UP, where we connected the landline to a computer device through an internet/fax card slot and then dialed a specific internet service number. Unfortunately, the connection was very slow, with a maximum speed of 56 Kbps, along with other drawbacks such as very high costs for this connection, in addition to the instability and disconnection of the connection in case of any telephone call on the landline.

Then came the DSL connection in general, including the type of connections used today, such as ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line), by connecting a router device from the user via copper wires of the landline to the communication unit of the service provider. The router performs two functions: acting as a modem responsible for translating the phone line signals from analog to digital that the computer can understand and interact with, and managing the internal network between the user’s devices and distributing IP addresses to each device. However, the ADSL connection is not uniform in upload and download speeds, supporting download speeds of up to 20 Mbps after upgrading to the new ADSL2 version, compared to only 1.5 Mbps as the maximum speed for upload, which is considered slow compared to the download speed. As a result, it can cause problems for companies and organizations that rely on uploading large amounts of data to a main server, leading to the emergence of VDSL connections.

VDSL, or Very High Bit Rate Digital Subscriber Line, is more compatible with fiber optic cables, which have started replacing old copper cables to increase data transfer speed. These connections support speeds up to 52 Mbps for download and 16 Mbps for upload, with expected download speeds of up to 100 Mbps in the second version, VDSL2. To use this type of connection, which offers much higher speeds than ADSL, you need to use a router that supports these connections to fully achieve the download or upload speed. Therefore, if you own or want to have an internet connection with speeds exceeding 20 Mbps, you must change your router to be able to access that speed fully. It’s worth noting that other factors can affect the quality of the connection besides the router, such as the quality of the landline and the user’s proximity to the service provider’s communication unit (central office).