How does an Internet Service provider connect to the internet?
If an internet service provider, provides internet, how do they connect, if they use another service provider, then where does that provider get access to the internet?
If they use a server then how does the server get access and if there is one universal service provider then how did that one get access, and if you can use a server to get an ISP, then couldn’t anyone just buy a server and get free internet excluding the server cost?
at the core of the internet are what are known as “tier 1″ providers. among these are ISPs such as verizon, level 3 and uunet. these companies, along with academic institutions, governmental bodies and others all own and/or manage portions of what is known as the internet “backbone”, which consists of the highest-speed connections between locations such as cities and universities.
access is distributed out from these entities. for instance, charter communications (an american residential and business ISP) will lease bandwidth and IP addresses from verizon, and resell it to people like you and me. it’s a little more complex than that in many cases, but that’s the idea.
btw, you don’t “use a server to get an ISP.” the internet (the traffic portion, anyway) is powered by routers and switches, not servers.
Comment by mrdave — December 26, 2008 @ 12:39 am