During a fillibuster..., the opposing side keeps giving speeches to prevent a vote from taking place.?

You can beat it by putting absolutely nothing else on the agenda except for the issue to be voted upon...however in the Senate you can technically extend it permanently

In current practice, Senate Rule 22 permits filibusters in which actual continuous floor speeches are not required, although the Senate Majority Leader may require an actual traditional filibuster if he or she so chooses. This threat of a filibuster can therefore be as powerful as an actual filibuster. Previously, the filibustering senator(s) could delay voting only by making an endless speech. Currently, they need only indicate that they are filibustering, thereby preventing the Senate from moving on to other business until the motion is withdrawn or enough votes are gathered for cloture.

Exactly, but this applies only to the Senate. The best example was the 1964 filibuster on the Civil Rights Act. Eventually, the Senate got tired of it and forced a cloture vote, so the bill finally made it to the floor. This one was so long they had to put cots on the Senate floor so people could sleep. It hasn't gotten that ridiculous in a while. They even had people read unrelated texts from newspapers, the Bible, and anything else they could come up with to keep the bill from a vote. The ones that need to change the rule is the Senate. The House does not allow filibuster

It used to work that way (like in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington), but not anymore. Currently, Senate rules mean that if you want to move something forward to a vote, if 41 members oppose, they can block it indefinitely.

A simple majority could change the rules and get rid of the filibuster if they wanted to. When Democrats held up Bush judicial appointees, Republicans threatened them with that, called the "nuclear option." If that were to happen, simple majorities could not be stopped in the Senate.

The House has no similar rule.

The reason a filibuster works is that every bill that comes up has to be voted on within a specific amount of time or it goes back to committee. So, if they filibuster it long enough, it doesnt come up for a vote. Silly rule...perhaps...but effective in stopping unpopular legislation.