The internet consists of many networks which link various electronic devices to data on the internet. When you post a web page, an email or file to another electronic device, the data is sent from the sender’s machine or computer to the recipient’s machine or computer. At that point, if you have been connected to the internet through your modem or wireless device, then your computer will have accessed the internet and can begin to access files that have been transferred to it. Your internet browser, on the other hand, will be responsible for navigating back and forth between the two machines.
In addition to navigating back and forth between the machines, your web browser will also display the pages that have been accessed by your web browser. This display may vary from web browser to web browser. However, the general display and navigation of most internet service providers’ sites are similar enough that most internet users will be familiar with it.
In order to gain access to the internet, your computer must use one of several communication protocols that are commonly known as IP, ICMP, TCP, or UPnP. These protocols are used to communicate with internetworking equipment such as routers and connecting cables. Once your computer has begun communicating with these networks, packets of data are transmitted and received from one another on these networks in packets. This transmission and reception of information is done at a constant rate, called packet loss, which is typically between one hundred and forty kilobytes per second (Kbps). Because the rate of transmission and reception of information is so fast, it can be challenging for people using dial up services or other internet connections to download information to their computer.
As an example, imagine that you are using a dial up connection to download information from an internet site to your home computer. In this case, it would take a long time for your computer to receive the information and be able to read it. As an example, if you were taking competitive exams, you may find yourself losing track of time during the test. With an internet connection, your computer will be able to access the necessary information at a much faster rate, which would make studying more streamlined. Competing exams are a great source of motivation for many students, but the inability to keep track of time in this case would greatly affect the amount of study that you would be able to perform.
As an example of how the IP address and other aspects of the IP packet helped provide the Internet with the bandwidth needed to carry voice and data transmissions over a broadband line, consider how difficult it would be for dial up users to connect to the Internet if it were not for the IP networking standard. One aspect of the IP address is its size, which can hold up to 64 bits. The number of bits is important because with a single IP address, you can transfer data at a very high bandwidth, up to 8 trillion bits per second. There are several reasons why you would want to use this much bandwidth. For one thing, it makes it possible to download anything from anywhere in the world to your personal computer.
Another important feature of the IP network is, how it forms the backbone of the World Wide Web, which allows people to share information across the world. Although you might not think that the web can play a role in your competitive exams, it did help millions of people take their qualifying exams. Without the Internet, there would be a lot less Internet available to those who wanted to learn. While you may not feel like you need the Internet for competitive purposes, it is often used for the same purpose and can be extremely valuable in the future.
