Re: Another silly question...

[Al Hudson <nospam [at] york.ac.uk>]

On Thu, 20 Jan 2000, Foz wrote:
> Ummm... this may seem like a silly question, but WHY do you
> need an ISP? Why can't you use your modem to connect straight
> to the internet. The ISPs manage it so why can't the normal user?
> This was not one of my questions this is a freind who would think
> up of something like that, and I have to admit, I don't actually
> _know_ the real answer to the question.
> Solutions would be welcome...

Heh, it's not entirely obvious if you've not done much networking or stuff
like that. Basically, There are several stages to your internet
connection. Firstly, your computer converts the application requests into
packets. These packets are what goes over the network. In a dial-up
connection, the computer transfers these packets to RS-232 to put over the
serial line, and the modem then modulates this over the phone line. At the
other end, the ISP reverses this process. This is why you need an ISP: the
internet works over TCP/IP, and you can't send that straight over a phone
line. You need hardware at the other end.

It's probably a good idea to remember there is no such thing as 'the
internet'. The net as we know it is a coupled set of discrete networks,
and therefore you have to access the internet through one of these
networks. Janet is a good example: Janet is connected to the other
networks ('the internet'), and all the universities access the internet
thru Janet. Similarly, UUNET/Palm/Pipex (what are they called these days?)
are another major network, and also sell access to the internet.

Hopefully, this clears up some of the confusion?

Cheers,

Alex.

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