Internet Basics

Sometime in the mid 1960’s, during the Cold War, it became apparent that there was a need for a bombproof communications system. A concept was devised to link computers together throughout the country. With such a system in place large sections of the country could be nuked and messages could still get through.

In the beginning, only government “think tanks” and a few universities were linked. Basically the Internet was an emergency military communications system operated by the Department of Defense’s Advanced Research Project Agency (ARPA). The whole operation was referred to as ARPANET.

In time, ARPANET computers were installed at every university in the United States that had defense related funding. Gradually, the Internet had gone from a military pipeline to a communications tool for scientists. As more scholars came online, the administration of the system transferred from ARPA to the National Science Foundation.

Years later, businesses began using the Internet and the administrative responsibilities were once again transferred.

At this time no one party “operates” the Internet, there are several entities that “oversee” the system and the protocols that are involved.

The speed of the Internet has changed the way people receive information. It combines the immediacy of broadcast with the in-depth coverage of newspapers…making it a perfect source for news and weather information.

Internet usage is at an all time high. Almost 100 million U.S. adults are now going online every month, according to New York-based Mediamark Research. That’s half of American adults and a 27 percent increase over 1999 in the number who surf the Web.

There also appears to be a continuing gender shift in the number of American adults going online. In early 2000, Mediamark reported the milestone that women for the first time ever accounted for half of the online adult population. Now 51 percent of U.S. surfers - some 50.6 million - are women.

There are several ways to access the Internet. Learn about the options that are available to you.

How the Internet Works

Computer for the purpose of this example let’s say that you want to send a file to a friend who lives on the opposite side of the country. You select the file that you friend wants and you send it to him via email. Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) prepares the data to be sent and received. TCP/IP ensures that a Macintosh network can exchange data with a Windows, or a Unix network, and vice-versa.

The file that you are sending does not travel to your friends computer directly, or even in a single continuous stream. The file you are sending gets broken up into separate data packets. The Internet Protocol side of TCP/IP labels each packet with the unique Internet address, or IP address of your friends computer. Since these packets will travel separate routes, some arriving sooner than others, the Transmission Control Protocol side of TCP/IP assigns a sequence number to each of packets. These sequence numbers will tell the TCP/IP in your friends computer how to reassemble the packets once he receives them. Amazingly, the complicated process of TCP/IP takes place in a matter of milliseconds.

The packets are then sent from one “router” to the next. Each router reads the IP address of the packet and decides which path will be the fastest. Since the traffic on these paths is constantly changing each packet may be sent a different way.

The packets are then sent from one “router” to the next. Each router reads the IP address of the packet and decides which path will be the fastest. Since the traffic on these paths is constantly changing each packet may be sent a different way.

It is possible to discover the paths between routers using a utility known as Traceroute. Using your favorite search engine, type in “traceroute” to find different Web sites hosting it.

Also, check out the Internet Traffic Report to find out how much global Internet traffic there is at this moment…and where the “bottlenecks” are. This information may not useful to you…but it’s interesting! The Internet Traffic Report monitors the flow of data around the world. It then displays a value between zero and 100. Higher values indicate faster and more reliable connections. This information may not useful to you…but it’s interesting! The Internet Traffic Report monitors the flow of data around the world. It then displays a value between zero and 100. Higher values indicate faster and more reliable connections.

Internet Access

AOL logoRegardless if you use the Internet for work or online shopping from home your choice for an Internet Service Provider is important. Your ISP can mean the difference between a great experience and a frustrating one.

There are nearly 7,000 ISPs in the United States alone. Some are massive telecommunications conglomerates with user populations larger than many nations. Others are mom-and-pop operations that know every customer by first name.

How do you decide whether to use a traditional online service or an Internet service provider? Figuring out which is best for you involves asking the right questions, of both yourself and your provider.

The online services connect you to the Internet, so do ISPs. The big difference between the two is “content.” The online services provide proprietary content…and lots of it. Most ISPs provide very little original content, you must venture out yourself (onto the Web, Usenet, ect…) and find it.

You will probably discover that an ISP can provide you with just as good of service, or better, at the same price or less.

Not all ISPs are created equally. Some are very good, some are very bad. Here are some questions that you should ask of any potential ISP before you sign on the bottom line:

What’s the cost? This may not be the most important factor but it’s a good place to start. Most ISPs charge around $20 a month. If you shop around you may find one for around $10 a month. Broadband cable may cost as much as $50 a month.

Do they offer discounts if you prepay the entire year upfront? (This is a good option, providing that it fits into your budget, if you choose a good ISP. It’s a bad option if the ISP turns out to be less than desirable.)

What modem speed do they support? Broadband? DSL? Dial-up? A good ISP will support 56K. You may not have 56K modem yourself but this will provide some indication of the commitment that this ISP is willing to make.

Do they offer a free trial? Try-before-you-buy is always a good thing.

What’s the ratio of modems to users? 6 to 8 users per modem is quite acceptable. Find out what number you would dial in on…and try it a few times.

Does your call through or do you receive busy signals?

How good is the customer support? Some will provide customer support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week…with a “800″ number. Most aren’ quite that good. Call their customer support number a few times before you decide to sign up. Take it as a bad sign if you frequently get a busy signal.

Do they charge a “setup” fee? Some do…most don’t. If you live in a city with many ISPs find one that doesn’t charge you for the privilege of bring your business to them.

There are a few of ways to find Internet Service Providers in your area. We recommend Find An ISP. They list Internet Service Providers by city.

You may also wish to check out The List. They have a large listing of ISPs broken down by area code.

You can also check your local phone book.

Yours truly,
Ferdinand Che.