Everyone seems to be talking about the Internet these days. You can find it everywhere – in newspapers, magazines, radio, TV, etc. The Internet is actually a network which connects many computers around the globe with high-speed Internet connections. Through the Internet, individuals are able to communicate with each other and share data from virtually anywhere with an Internet connection. The Internet may seem very complicated, but in actuality it’s quite straightforward.
One way that people get on the Internet is by using web pages, blogs, newsgroups, forums and social media networks. Some people make websites and advertise themselves through these websites, and those who own the website can have their information, products and services offered to the public through the Internet. One of the most popular ways to get on the Internet is by visiting web sites called web pages, which are simply websites which have text content and a front page that contain links to other web pages and sometimes additional features and applications.
Some websites use “web browsers” instead of “web pages.” These types of internet browsers include Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, Google Chrome, Opera, and iPhone Safari. A web browser is basically a software tool that allows a computer user to browse the World Wide Web. This type of tool can run on a variety of operating systems, including Windows, Linux and Mac OS X.
An internet access provider or ISP provides internet access by connecting a computer to the Internet using a wired Ethernet card, cable modem or wireless router. Internet service providers or ISPs also provide internet access through cell phones, wireless routers and home switches. When a person subscribes to a home or professional internet service, they are usually connected to a network called the Internet service provider’s (ISP). The ISP usually gives their subscribers special texts or files called digital certificates, or security codes, which serve as an identification mark for the subscriber’s computer. This network is referred to as the local network or intranet.
There are several types of networks on the internet. The most popular ones are the Internet itself, the intranet, the internet service provider’s (ISP) networks, and the World Wide Web. Internet users log on to one of these networks in order to visit other websites. For example, if you go to YouTube, you would not need to log in to YouTube; you could simply click the link and be taken to that website. This is because your browser already has cookies (commonly known as tags) that keep track of your browsing history and will allow you to “remember” the site you visited. Web browsers communicate with each other through a group of protocols known as Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTML), Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP), and XML.
An ISP usually provides their customers with broadband internet services. Broadband internet services use the same networks as the internet but it does not include voice, video, and other non-essentials features that come along with DSL and cable connections. Broadband internet can be accessed from one device or from multiple devices. For example, your laptop can connect to the internet with its own wireless modem and access the internet via a wireless hot-wire connection while you are sitting in your bed and the internet is accessible through your phone using mobile internet connectivity.
