Using a network connection, including connecting to the
Internet, computers connect to
each other to
transmit data between them and communicate with each
other using the TCP/IP (Transmission
Control Protocol / Internet Protocol). Think of TCP/IP as a book of
rules, a step-by-step guide that each computer uses to know how to talk
to another computer. This book of rules dictates what each computer
must do to transmit data, when to transmit data, how to transmit that
data. It also states how to receive data in the same manner. If the
rules are not followed, the computer will not be able to connect to
another computer, nor send and receive data between other computers.
Internet service providers (ISP), the
companies that provide Internet service and connectivity also follow
these rules. The ISP provides a bridge between your computer and all
the other computers in the world, which are all a part of the Internet.
The ISP uses the TCP/IP protocols to make computer-to-computer
connections possible and transmit data between them. When successfully
connected to an ISP you will be assigned an
IP address, which is a unique address
given to your computer or network and allows it to be found while on
the Internet.
If you have a home computer network, the computers are also using
TCP/IP to connect to each other. This
protocol allows each computer to
"see" the other computers on the network and share files between them
and is what makes it possible for a printer to be shared on a network.
When computers connect to each other on the same network, it is called
a local area network, or LAN. When
multiple networks are connected to each other, it is called a wide area
network, or WAN. With this type of
network, your home will have a network
router that connects to your ISP. The router is given the IP
address for your connection to the Internet and then assigns local IP
addresses to each device in your network. These local addresses are
often 192.168.1.2-255. When accessing a local computer in your own
network, your router sends your TCP/IP
packets between the local IP addresses. However, when you want to
connect to the Internet your router communicates to the Internet with
the IP address assigned to it from the ISP. This is why when on the
Internet your IP address is not a 192.168.x.x address.
When requesting information from a web page, such as Computer Hope you
enter a URL that is easy to
understand and remember. In order for your computer to access the
computer containing the pages that URL must be converted into an IP
address, this is done with DNS. Once
DNS has converted the URL into an IP address the routers on the
Internet will know how to route your TCP/IP packet. Below is a graphic
illustration of everything explained above to help better illustrate
the process of your computer communicating with another computer on the
Internet.
Today, computers using the Microsoft Windows OS, Apple OS and Linux OS
all use the TCP/IP protocol to connect to other computers on a LAN or
WAN. Connecting to a LAN or WAN requires either a wired connection or a
wireless connection. A wired connection is usually done using a network
cable (Cat5 or
Cat6 network cable). A wireless
connection (Wi-Fi)
is done using a
802.11b, 802.11g or 802.11n wireless network card. With both
connection types, a network router is usually required to connect to
other
computers. Connecting to the Internet at your home will also require
either a cable modem or a
DSL modem, depending on which
ISP you use.
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