How does the internet work ?

The word internet actually stands for “internetworking”. It’s a network of networks, and it
represents how all telecommunication networks allow anyone the possibility to communicate
with anyone else. The internet is a world-wide network of computers linked together by
telephone wires, satellite links and other means. For simplicity's sake we will say that all
computers on the internet can be divided into two categories: servers and browsers.
Servers are where most of the information on the internet "lives". These are specialised
computers which store information, share information with other servers, and make this
information available to the general public.

Browsers are what people use to access the World Wide Web from any standard computer.
Chances are, the browser you're using to view this page is either Netscape
Navigator/Communicator or Microsoft Internet Explorer. These are by far the most popular
browsers, but there are also a number of others in common use.

In the internet world, there are “servers” and there are “clients.” Servers are machines that
provide services to other machines and are connected directly to the internet. There are
email servers, web servers, and data servers, and each has a static IP (internet protocol)
address that doesn’t change. IP addresses help computers find each other. The Daily Dot’s
main IP address is 104.17.157.154, but instead of calling the site 104.17.157.154, we refer to
it as www.dailydot.com.
Your home laptop is not a server. It’s a client because it’s connected indirectly to the internet
through an internet service provider (or ISP), like Comcast, Verizon, or Google Fiber. To
connect to the internet, I connect to my Wi-Fi, which is provided by an ISP. That ISP connects
me to the internet, which connects me to the IP of the server whose data I wish to see
(like Google.com). Web pages and emails are files on that server’s hard drive, so I’m really
looking at files on Google’s hard drive.

Though most people connect to the internet wirelessly, that connection always goes back to a
wire. Yes, even if you connect to the internet via Wi-Fi, that connection goes back to a router.
Routers are connected to cable networks. On a smartphone, the wireless signal connects to a
cell tower, which is also wired to a cable network. Whether the cables are fiber optic or
copper, connected underneath the ground or hung from utility poles, the internet is
connected by a web of wires. Or, “a series of tubes.”

When you connect your computer to the internet, you are connecting to a special type of
server which is provided and operated by your Internet Service Provider (ISP). The job of this
"ISP Server" is to provide the link between your browser and the rest of the internet. A single
ISP server handles the internet connections of many individual browsers - there may be
thousands of other people connected to the same server that you are connected to right now.
 The following picture shows a small "slice" of the internet with several home computers
connected to a server:

ISP servers receive requests from browsers to view webpages, check email, etc. Of course each
server can't hold all the information from the entire internet, so in order to provide browsers
with the pages and files they ask for, ISP servers must connect to other internet servers. This
brings us to the next common type of server: the "Host Server".

Host servers are where websites "live". Every website in the world is located on a host server
somewhere (for example, MediaCollege.Com is hosted on a server in Parsippany, New Jersy
USA). The host server's job is to store information and make it available to other servers.

The picture below show a slightly larger slice of the internet:

To view a web page from your browser, the following sequence happens:

1. You either type an address (URL) into your "Address Bar" or click on a hyperlink.
2. Your browser sends a request to your ISP server asking for the page.
3. Your ISP server looks in a huge database of internet addresses and finds the exact host server
which houses the website in question, then sends that host server a request for the page.
4. The host server sends the requested page to your ISP server.
5. Your ISP sends the page to your browser and you see it displayed on your screen.

Now That we have a fair overall concept of what internet is, it may be the time seeking answers
to some of the questions that might be bothering our minds.
How does information know where to go?
Well, wehenever an image, file, or message is sent across the internet, computers break the
information into smaller segments, called “packets.” Packets are reassembled in their original
order once they are received by the server.
To ensure that information goes to the right place, servers look to send files to an IP address.
As a client, your IP address changes depending on where you are and how you connected to
the internet. IP addresses can also be used by ISPs to determine the perpetrators of illegal
activity.

How do computers connect to Wi-Fi?

Wifi works similarly to Bluetooth technology by using radio frequencies to transmit signals
between devices. If a computer has Wi-Fi capability, it connects by receiving signals from your
wireless router over the Gigahertz range. By the way, Wi-Fi stands for Wireless Fidelity and is
a synonym for WLAN (wireless local area network).

Who owns the internet?

The answer is no one. Though basically everyone “pays” for the internet in one way or
another (through ISP subscriptions, by viewing content on webpages), there is no one body
that owns it all. So, when you buy a domain name, you are simply paying for a part of the
infrastructure of the internet.

What’s a router?
A router is needed anywhere two or more devices intersect to connect with an ISP. Routers
direct the packets across the internet, helping them reach their destinations. Every time you
visit a website anywhere from ten to fifteen routers help your packets get to and from your
computer.