How an ISP Works?

To understand the general process by which people communicate and connect electronically it is necessary to understand the three pieces of the term “ISP.” These three letters stand for “Internet Service Provider.”

Basically, a company that exists to get your computer hooked up to the Internet and to other computer users is an ISP. For about 40 years, individuals and companies have provided the service through physical equipment and software located in the company offices. One essential piece of equipment is the modem, a shortened term that stands for modulate-demodulate or modulator-demodulator.

What these two words mean is that the modem modulates or slightly changes a waveform so that it will work with other waveforms, and converts it to digital. This digitized information is then moved on to another ISP. In the modem of this receiving company/service provider the digital information is demodulated and converted so that it can be further used.

An Internet Service Provider will usually have a large number of modems so that it can handle incoming information from various clients. The ISP is able to work with a number of customers efficiently because of something called the IP address. The two letters in this phrase stand for Internet Protocol, essentially the standard way of communicating on the Internet. Think of “protocol” as the set of rules and guidelines that make communication possible. The IP address is the location (address) of the server, a computer that stores the Web pages for the customers.

With this in mind, it might be good to take a look at the basic steps that make communication through an ISP possible. Assume your home computer is connected to the “system” by a cable or wireless signal.
You connect with your Internet Service Provider by “logging in.” The specific information you need to make this connection is usually provided by or approved by the ISP. This might include a user name, a password, an email address etc. When the ISP knows that you are the “authentic” user who is supposed to use this information, the ISP gives you the IP address you need or connects you to the IP address you have reserved. The difference is that many individual users receive a dynamic IP address that is different each time they connect with the ISP.

You will then be connected to a modem that will modulate/convert your information. Once connected in this way, the Internet Service Provider finds the IP address you are searching for and want to connect to. Through its modems and other equipment the ISP moves the required Web pages or information to your IP address.

Consider the World Wide Web as a globe-spanning network of cables and wireless signals that have to come from some source computer. The ISP helps as a traffic controller, warehouse and problem solver for all of the traffic that travels over the Internet. It may also help to view the ISP as an access provider, a company with the equipment and expertise to open the door to the Internet world.

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