_INTERNET_

DIFFERENT TYPES OF INTERNET CONNECTIONS

Digital subscriber line (DSL):

This service is delivered through your phone land line, but your phone is available to you to make calls even when you’re connected to the Internet. DSL is a form of broadband communication, which may use phone lines and fiber-optic cables for transmission. You have to subscribe to a broadband service (check with your phone company) and pay a monthly fee for access.

Cable:

You may instead go through your local cable company to get your Internet service via the cable that brings your TV programming rather than your phone line. This is another type of broadband service, and it’s relatively fast. Check with your cable company for monthly fees.

Satellite:

Especially in rural areas, satellite Internet providers may be your only option. This requires that you install a satellite dish. DISH and Comcast are two providers of satellite connections to check into.

Wireless hot-spots: 

If you take a wireless-enabled laptop computer, tablet, or smart phone with you on a trip, you can piggyback on a connection somebody else has made. You will find wireless hot-spots in many public places, such as airports, cafes, and hotels. If you’re in range of such a hot-spot, your computer usually finds the connection automatically, making Internet service available to you for free or for a fee.

Cell phone networks: 

If you use a smart phone to connect to the Internet, you can access the Internet through your phone provider’s 3G or 4G network. Some tablets also can connect this way, and you can buy add-on devices that allow other computers to use a cell phone network too.

And if you need Wifi access for other devices where there is no wireless hot-spot, you may be able to create a temporary wireless hot-spot using your phone.

Dial-up: 

With a dial-up connection, you use a dial-up modem to connect to an Internet service provider using your home phone line. With this type of connection, you can’t use a phone line for phone calls while you’re connected to the Internet. This is the slowest connection method and is most people’s last resort.

ISP (Internet service provider)

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An ISP (Internet service provider) is a company that provides individuals and other companies access to the Internet and other related services such as Web site building and virtual hosting. An ISP has the equipment and the telecommunication line access required to have a point-of-presence on the Internet for the geographic area served. The larger ISPs have their own high-speed leased lines so that they are less dependent on the telecommunication providers and can provide better service to their customers. Among the largest national and regional ISPs are AT&T WorldNet, IBM Global Network, MCI, Netcom, UUNet, and PSINet.

Internet Protocol Address (IP Address)

An IP address is the most significant and important component in the networking phenomena that binds the World Wide Web together. The IP address is a numeric address assigned to every unique instance that is connected to any computer communication network using the TCP/IP communication protocols.

Network nodes are assigned IP addresses by the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol server as soon as the nodes connect to a network. DHCP assigns IP addresses using a pool of available addresses which are part of the whole addressing scheme. Though DHCP only provides addresses that are not static, many machines reserve static IP addresses that are assigned to that entity forever and cannot be used again.

IP addresses falls into two types:

• Classfull IP addressing is a legacy scheme which divides the whole IP address pools into 5 distinct classes—A, B, C, D and E.

• Classless IP addressing has an arbitrary length of the prefixes