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Lesson 2

The Internet

What is the Internet?

The Internet, sometimes called simply "the Net" (also called Cloud), is a
global network of billions of computers and other electronic devices. With the
Internet, it's possible to access almost any information, communicate with
anyone else in the world, and do much more.
You can do all of this by connecting a computer or device to the Internet,
which is also called going online. When someone says a computer is online, it is
just another way of saying it is connected to the Internet.

Origins of the Internet

The origin of the internet can be traced back to its original use in military
and universities. You may be surprised that the internet is just an evolution of
computer networks that started between military computers with the initial goal
of maintaining the safe transition of data.
Let us take a look at a brief history of the internet. It all started with the
ARPAnet. We will see how computers were kept added to this network all
throughout the years. Understand the history of the internet by reading the time
line below.

1957: The United States Department of Defense put a high priority on research
and projects in science and technology and created an agency called ARPA
(Advanced Research Projects Agency) in response to Soviet Union’s spacecraft
satellite called Sputnik.
1962: The birth of ARPANET (ARPA Network). These are network of computers
in the ARPA that allowed a communication of information between computers.
1969: By the end of 1969, only four computers are connected to the ARPAnet.
1971: By this year, universities were involved in the propagation of computers
that are connected to the ARPANET. There were 23 computers in different
universities and institutes in the United States connected to ARPANET.
This year was also believed to be the year when Email was invented and Ray
Tomlinson was credited as the inventor, though some have different stories of
who the inventor is.
1973: Vinton "Vint" Cerf, an American computer scientist, and Robert E. "Bob"
Kahn, an American engineer and computer scientist, started a project to develop
Transmission-Control Protocol (TCP), which allowed the ARPAnet to go
international, connecting to England and Norway. The connection of ARPAnet
have crossed international borders. Hence, the “internet” was born.
1974: Bob Kahn and Vint Cerf refer to the term "internet" for the first time
regarding Transmission Control Protocol.

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Through the following years, we can see how much the internet has grown
in number in terms of connected hosts.

1983: There was about 500 hosts (computers) connected to ARPANET.

1984: There was about 1000 hosts connected to ARPANET.
1989: The World Wide Web (WWW) was invented by Sir Timothy John "Tim"
Berners-Lee, an engineer and computer scientist from Great Britain, working as
a professor at MIT and CERN Laboratory.
1990: The first web browser called WorldWideWeb was developed.
1991: The Department of Defense decided to make the 50kbps ARPANET
obsolete. ARPANET was replaced by NSFNET (The National Science Foundation's
Network) which offers connection to the public. During this stage the Internet
was not just confined in the universities and military purposes.
1994: The Internet grows significantly since it was open for commercial use.
Internet Search Engines Started:
• Yahoo
• Excite
• Infoseek

March 29, 1994, 1:15 a.m.: The first internet in the Philippines was established.
Benjie Tan, who was working for ComNet, a company that supplied Cisco routers
to the Philnet project, established the Philippine's first connection to the
Internet at a PLDT network center in Makati City. Shortly thereafter, he posted
a short message to the Usenet newsgroup soc.culture.filipino to alert Filipinos
overseas that a link had been made. His message read:

"As of March 29, 1994, at 1:15 am Philippine time, unfortunately

2 days late due to slight technical difficulties, the Philippines was
FINALLY connected to the Internet via SprintLink. The Philippine
router, a Cisco 7000 router was attached via the services of PLDT
and Sprint communications to SprintLink's router at Stockton Ca.
The gateway to the world for the Philippines will be via NASA Ames
Research Center. For now, a 64K serial link is the information
highway to the rest of the Internet world."

1995: The number of Internet hosts reaches 4 million

1996: The number of Internet hosts reaches 9 million
1997: The number of Internet hosts reaches 16 million

According to DataReportal, 4.80 billion people around the world use the
internet in July 2021. This probably means that there are around 4 billion hosts
connected to the internet including embedded systems like smart TVs, smart
houses, and the Internet of Things.

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How does the Internet work?

At this point you may be wondering, how does the Internet work? The
exact answer is pretty complicated and would take a while to explain. Instead,
let's look at some of the most important things you should know.
It's important to realize that the Internet is a global network of physical
cables, which can include copper telephone wires, TV cables, and fiber optic
cables. Even wireless connections like Wi-Fi and 3G/4G rely on these physical
cables to access the Internet.
When you visit a website, your computer sends a request over these wires
to a server. A server is where websites are stored, and it works a lot like any
computer's storage device. Once the request arrives, the server retrieves the
website and sends the correct data back to your computer. What's amazing is
that this all happens in just a few seconds! Yes, theoretically it happens in
seconds. But sometimes, why does it take “forever” to access a website? Well,
there are things that could affect the speed of your internet connection.

Watch Video: Where does the Internet come from? -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKA5hz3dV-g

Based from the video that we watched, where can we find the backbone of the
Internet?

Types of Internet Service

The type of Internet service you choose will largely depend on which Internet
service providers (ISPs) serve your area, along with the types of service they
offer. Examples of ISPs in the Philippines are: PLDT, Globe, Smart and Converge.
Here are some common types of Internet service.

Dial-up: This is generally the slowest type of Internet connection, and you should
probably avoid it unless it is the only service available in your area. Dial-up
Internet uses your phone line, so unless you have multiple phone lines you will
not be able to use your landline and the Internet at the same time.
DSL: DSL service uses a broadband connection, which makes it much faster than
dial-up. DSL connects to the Internet via a phone line but does not require you
to have a landline at home. And unlike dial-up, you'll be able to use the Internet
and your phone line at the same time.
Cable: Cable service connects to the Internet via cable TV, although you do not
necessarily need to have cable TV in order to get it. It uses a broadband
connection and can be faster than both dial-up and DSL service; however, it is
only available where cable TV is available.
Satellite: A satellite connection uses broadband but does not require cable or
phone lines; it connects to the Internet through satellites orbiting the Earth. As
a result, it can be used almost anywhere in the world, but the connection may
be affected by weather patterns. Satellite connections are also usually slower
than DSL or cable.

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3G and 4G: 3G and 4G service is most commonly used with mobile phones, and
it connects wirelessly through your ISP's network. However, these types of
connections aren't always as fast as DSL or cable. In addition to these is the more
modern 5G service.

How do I connect to the Internet?

Once you've set up your computer, you may want to purchase home
Internet access so you can send and receive email, browse the Web, stream
videos, and more. You may even want to set up a home wireless network,
commonly known as Wi-Fi, so you can connect multiple devices to the Internet
at the same time.

You may also subscribe to an internet service using your smartphone.

Inquire with your network provider to know their promos and internet services.

Watch Video: Computer Basics: Connecting to the Internet -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMX6dVa61t0

Factors that Affect Internet Speed

Let us identify some of the factors and get to know why we experience
slow internet connection.

The weather. Especially for mobile data users, during a stormy weather
your internet connection is affected. It could cause disruption on your connection
which affects your overall internet experience.

Geographical location or distance. The distance between you and your

connection source inversely affects your internet connection speed. For
example, you may be living in a location where you have from nothing to poor
network reception or signal. It is obvious that walking away from a Wi-Fi source
or from a cell tower reduces your internet speed.

Physical hindrance. In conjunction with the bad location, physical objects

can cause interference to your connection such as buildings or walls that are
blocking signals. You may be close to a Wi-Fi source but if your signal is blocked,
it may test your patience. You may also want to check whether your phone case
is hindering your signal.

Number of Hosts. The network is like a road, too much vehicles causes
slow traffic. The number of clients connected to a single source can affect the
speed as they would share bandwidth of the connection. For example, you may
experience a gradual decrease on your internet speed as the number of devices
connected to your Wi-Fi increases.

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Your internet service provider. This is probably the most blamed cause
of slow internet. Internet Service Providers (ISP) have control on how much
bandwidth is allotted for your connection. They can manipulate your internet
connection. There is this policy they call FUP (Fair Use Policy) where they reduce
your internet bandwidth when certain conditions are met.

There are other factors aside from what is given in this lesson.

Learning Activity

Answer the following.

A. Describe your internet service provider.

1. What is the name of your ISP?
2. What is the type of your internet service?
3. Does your ISP implement Fair Use Policy?
4. How are you connected to the internet?

B. Aside from the factors that affect internet connection given in our lesson,
research and give two more. Explain how it happens. Don’t forget to cite
your sources.

Module II THE MODERN COMMUNICATION