How does the internet really work?

[Narmer]

I know there are ISPs, but who serves the ISPs? Are there cables that run from continent to continent or is data transferred via satellites? If the former and latter are true, who owns those cables?

 

[RebateMonger]

Wikipedia.org: The Internet

HowStuffWorks.com: Internet Infrastructure

HowStuffWorks.com: Backbones

Maybe those will answer some of your questions.

 

[sonoma1993]

the internet is bunch of combinations of isp's, cabling, and routers. From what I was told, there is a cables that run across the bottom of the Atlantic ocean

 

[vorgusa]

Yep, tons of fiber that goes from the US to Europe.. pretty amazing if you think about it. And think about how much traffic must be going through that pipe. The internet is just a giant mesh of cabling that connects all networks together, and companies charge ISP's or whoever a certain amount per data, I believe, to connect.

 

[mzzmuaa]

actually, and contrary to popular misconception, the internet is a series of tubes.

 

[RebateMonger]

Transcontinental Internet traffic is run in underwater cables. When that last earthquake took out cables near Japan, many Asian countries lost the bulk of their Internet connectivity.

 

[Steve]

It's not a truck.

 

[Zolty]

it's a series of tubes

 

[James Bond]

Directly underneath the center of the pentagon, there is a medium-sized box. This box is called "internet". Millions of cords connect to this single box. There is a single bed next to the box. The headboard reads, "Bill Gates".