What exactly is the internet?#
The internet is not a company or a website; it is a network of networks. Thousands of small and large networks (carriers, universities, companies, homes) are linked by cable, fiber, satellite and radio waves, and they talk to each other using shared rules such as TCP/IP.
The internet is not the web#
People often treat the two as the same thing. The internet is the infrastructure, the roads. The web (websites and the browser) is just one of the services that travels on those roads. Email, messaging apps, online games and video calls use the same infrastructure too.
What happens when you open a website?#
It is like sending a letter from one city to another:
- The browser converts the site's name into a numeric address (an IP address).
- Your request travels as small packets through your modem, your provider and several routers along the way.
- The destination server sends its reply back in small packets, and the browser assembles them into a page.
Where you encounter it#
Every time you connect mobile data, DSL or home fiber, you are connecting to a provider (ISP), which links you to the rest of the networks. The quality of your experience depends on three things: the type of connection, the bandwidth, and the distance to the destination server.
Common mistake#
The internet is not a magical "cloud". Every piece of data is stored on a physical device somewhere and reaches you through real cables, even under the sea. That is why a cut cable or a country-level restriction can disrupt access.