An Internet Service Provider (ISP) is an organization that provides services for accessing and

using the Internet. Internet service providers may be organized in various forms, such as
commercial,community-owned, non-profit, or otherwise privately owned.

Internet services typically provided by ISPs include Internet access, Internet transit, domain
nameregistration, web hosting, Usenet service, and colocation.

Classifications[edit]
Access providers ISP[edit]
ISPs provide Internet access, employing a range of technologies to connect users to their

network.[34] Available technologies have ranged from computer modems with acoustic couplers to

telephone lines, to television cable (CATV), wireless Ethernet (wi-fi), and fiber optics.

For users and small businesses, traditional options include copper wires to provide dial-up, DSL,
typically asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL), cable modem or Integrated Services Digital
Network (ISDN) (typically basic rate interface). Using fiber-optics to end users is called Fiber To The

Home or similar names.[35]

For customers with more demanding requirements (such as medium-to-large businesses, or other
ISPs) can use higher-speed DSL (such as single-pair high-speed digital subscriber line), Ethernet,
metropolitan Ethernet, gigabit Ethernet, Frame Relay, ISDN Primary Rate Interface, ATM

(Asynchronous Transfer Mode) and synchronous optical networking (SONET).[36]

Wireless access is another option, including cellular and satellite Internet access.

Mailbox providers[edit]
A mailbox provider is an organization that provides services for hosting electronic mail domains with
access to storage for mail boxes. It provides email servers to send, receive, accept, and store email
for end users or other organizations.

Many mailbox providers are also access providers,[37] while others are not (e.g., Yahoo! Mail,

Outlook.com, Gmail, AOL Mail, Po box). The definition given in RFC 6650 coversemail hosting
services, as well as the relevant department of companies, universities, organizations, groups, and
individuals that manage their mail servers themselves. The task is typically accomplished by
implementing Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) and possibly providing access to messages
through Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP), thePost Office Protocol, Webmail, or a

proprietary protocol.[38]

Hosting ISPs[edit]
Internet hosting services provide email, web-hosting, or online storage services. Other services
include virtual server, cloud services, or physical server operation.

Transit ISPs[edit]

Tiers 1 and 2 ISP interconnections

Just as their customers pay them for Internet access, ISPs themselves pay upstream ISPs for
Internet access. An upstream ISP usually has a larger network than the contracting ISP or is able to
provide the contracting ISP with access to parts of the Internet the contracting ISP by itself has no

access to.[39]

In the simplest case, a single connection is established to an upstream ISP and is used to transmit
data to or from areas of the Internet beyond the home network; this mode of interconnection is often
cascaded multiple times until reaching a tier 1 carrier. In reality, the situation is often more complex.
ISPs with more than one point of presence (PoP) may have separate connections to an upstream
ISP at multiple PoPs, or they may be customers of multiple upstream ISPs and may have

connections to each one of them at one or more point of presence.[40] Transit ISPs provide large

amounts of bandwidth for connecting hosting ISPs and access ISPs.[41]

Virtual ISPs[edit]
A virtual ISP (VISP) is an operation that purchases services from another ISP, sometimes called

awholesale ISP in this context,[42] which allow the VISP's customers to access the Internet using

services and infrastructure owned and operated by the wholesale ISP. VISPs resemble mobile
virtual network operators and competitive local exchange carriers for voice communications.

Free ISPs[edit]
Free ISPs are Internet service providers that provide service free of charge. Many free ISPs display
advertisements while the user is connected; like commercial television, in a sense they are selling
the user's attention to the advertiser. Other free ISPs, sometimes called freenets, are run on a

nonprofit basis, usually with volunteer staff.[citation needed]

Wireless ISP[edit]
A wireless Internet service provider (WISP) is an Internet service provider with a network based on
wireless networking. Technology may include commonplace Wi-Fi wireless mesh networking, or
proprietary equipment designed to operate over open 900 MHz, 2.4 GHz, 4.9, 5.2, 5.4, 5.7, and 5.8
GHz bands or licensed frequencies such as 2.5 GHz (EBS/BRS), 3.65 GHz (NN) and in the UHF

band (including the MMDS frequency band) and LMDS.[citation needed]

Peering[edit]
ISPs may engage in peering, where multiple ISPs interconnect at peering points or Internet
exchange points (IXs), allowing routing of data between each network, without charging one another
for the data transmitted—data that would otherwise have passed through a third upstream ISP,

incurring charges from the upstream ISP.[39]

ISPs requiring no upstream and having only customers (end customers and/or peer ISPs) are called
Tier 1 ISPs.

Network hardware, software and specifications, as well as the expertise of network management
personnel are important in ensuring that data follows the most efficient route, and upstream

connections work reliably. A tradeoff between cost and efficiency is possible.[citation needed]

Law enforcement and intelligence assistance[edit]

Internet service providers in many countries are legally required (e.g., via Communications
Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA) in the U.S.) to allow law enforcementagencies to
monitor some or all of the information transmitted by the ISP. Furthermore, in some countries ISPs
are subject to monitoring by intelligence agencies. In the U.S., a controversial National Security
Agency program known as PRISM provides for broad monitoring of Internet users traffic and has
raised concerns about potential violation of the privacy protections in the Fourth Amendment to the

United States Constitution.[43][44] Modern ISPs integrate a wide array of surveillance and packet
sniffing equipment into their networks, which then feeds the data to law-enforcement/intelligence

networks (such as DCSNet in the United States, or SORM[45] in Russia) allowing monitoring of

Internet traffic in real time.

Internet access is the process that enables individuals and organisations to connect to the Internet
using computer terminals,computers, mobile devices, sometimes via computer networks. Once
connected to the Internet, users can access Internet services, such as email and the World Wide
Web. Internet service providers (ISPs) offer Internet access through various technologies that offer a
wide range of data signaling rates (speeds).

Consumer use of the Internet first became popular through dial-up Internet access in the 1990s. By
the first decade of the 21st century, many consumers in developed nations used faster, broadband
Internet access technologies. By 2014 this was almost ubiquitous worldwide, with a global average

connection speed exceeding 4 Mbit/s.[1]

There are many ways a personal electronic device can connect to the internet. They all

use different hardware and each has a range of connection speeds. As technology

changes, faster internet connections are needed to handle those changes. I thought it

would be interesting to list some of the different types of internet connections that are

available for home and personal use, paired with their average speeds.

Dial-Up (Analog 56K).

Dial-up access is cheap but slow. A modem (internal or external) connects to the

Internet after the computer dials a phone number. This analog signal is converted to

digital via the modem and sent over a land-line serviced by a public telephone network.

Telephone lines are variable in quality and the connection can be poor at times. The

lines regularly experience interference and this affects the speed, anywhere from 28K to

56K. Since a computer or other device shares the same line as the telephone, they

can’t be active at the same time.

DSL. DSL stands for Digital Subscriber Line. It is an internet connection that is always

“on”. This uses 2 lines so your phone is not tied up when your computer is connected.

There is also no need to dial a phone number to connect. DSL uses a router to

transport data and the range of connection speed, depending on the service offered, is

between 128K to 8 Mbps.

Cable. Cable provides an internet connection through a cable modem and operates

over cable TV lines. There are different speeds depending on if you are uploading data

transmissions or downloading. Since the coax cable provides a much greater

bandwidth over dial-up or DSL telephone lines, you can get faster access. Cable

speeds range from 512K to 20 Mbps.

Wireless. Wireless, or Wi-Fi, as the name suggests, does not use telephone lines or

cables to connect to the internet. Instead, it uses radio frequency. Wireless is also an

always on connection and it can be accessed from just about anywhere. Wireless

networks are growing in coverage areas by the minute so when I mean access from just

about anywhere, I really mean it. Speeds will vary, and the range is between 5 Mbps to

20 Mbps.

Satellite. Satellite accesses the internet via a satellite in Earth’s orbit. The enormous

distance that a signal travels from earth to satellite and back again, provides a delayed

connection compared to cable and DSL. Satellite connection speeds are around 512K

to 2.0 Mbps.

Cellular. Cellular technology provides wireless Internet access through cell phones.

The speeds vary depending on the provider, but the most common are 3G and 4G

speeds. A 3G is a term that describes a 3rd generation cellular network obtaining

mobile speeds of around 2.0 Mbps. 4G is the fourth generation of cellular wireless

standards. The goal of 4G is to achieve peak mobile speeds of 100 Mbps but the reality

is about 21 Mbps currently.

Internet Service Providers (ISP’s), which first began to emerge in

the late 1980s and early 1990s, are the businesses and
organizations that provide users with Internet access and related
services. These providers connect customers to customers of
other service providers by way of networks. Often, Internet
Service Providers (also called Internet Access Providers) are
companies that provide telecommunications services including
data communications access and telephone connection. The
majority of telephone companies now function as Internet Access
Providers as well. ISP’s may be commercial, non-profit, privately
owned or community-owned.

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