With new technologies, your DSL speed could soon get a boost

If you're a customer of AT&T's U-verse service or have plain-old DSL Internet access, you may feel like you're stuck in the slow lane, especially compared to your friends and neighbors who have cable Internet access. But you soon may be getting a speed boost.

The difference in speeds offered by DSL providers and cable operators "is pretty big right now and is getting wider," noted Teresa Mastrangelo an analyst at Broadbandtrends, an industry analysis and consulting firm. But she added that next-generation of DSL technologies will "help close the gap." DSL's big boost is expected to come from two technologies called bonding and vectoring. With bonding, a DSL provider sends signals over multiple phone lines rather than using just one. By using two phone lines to deliver DSL, rather than just one, providers can effectively double Internet speeds, industry experts say.