The Internet is a technology that affects the lives of many different people of all walks of life and in many different countries on a daily basis. While many know what its many uses are comprised of, what it actually is comprised of is a collection of networks that are all interconnected. This can be a very small connection where only a few computers are connected to each other, or it can be on a extremely large scale with many computers being linked together.
In order to be able to access the Internet it has to be done through what is called an Internet service provider. This is the entity that gives access to customers so they are able to connect to the Internet.
There are many different ways that the connection can be made that the Internet service providers can offer. When one signs up with a company to use these services they now become a part of the ISP’s network and now have the authority to connect to the Internet through them.
Many different types of technologies are used to allow one to connect to the Internet and the ISP provider will determine which is best.
Routers
It is common for many people in their homes to have routers once they have joined an ISP provider. This is really just a mini computer that has the task of directing traffic that takes place on the Internet itself. When a computer user has logged on to the Internet through their ISP and wants to visit a site on the Internet, once the address is been typed into the search bar this address goes to the nearest router. This router can determine where to find the site on the Internet. It will also choose the best path to be able to make it the connection for the computer user.
Advanced Networks
With there being so many networks what often happens in some areas is networks are grouped together. When this happens it is a mid-level network. Or another option is they may be linked in a larger area as a group which is then called a WAN .
The routers have a capability of determining whether the website being searched for is in a regional network that is the same as the user or whether it is in a wider area network. If neither of these are determined to be the case and the website happens to be somewhere else on the Internet, then the router sends the request to what is called a NAP. this is a network access point.
This is just one segment of what helps the Internet to work.
