Service Providers

In truth, the Internet was not designed to link computers but rather to tie together computer networks. As its name implies, the Internet allows data to flow between networks. Even if you only have a single computer, when you connect with the Internet, you must run a network protocol the same as if you had slung miles of Ethernet cable through your home and office. Whether you like it or not, you end up tangled in the web of networking when you connect to the Internet.

The ISP actually operates as a message forwarder. At the ISP, your message gets combined with those from other computers and sent through a higher-speed connection (at least you should hope it is a high-speed connection) to yet another concentrator that eventually ...

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