Internet Basics

Understanding the Net (Easy Version)

No doubt you've heard of a computer network, a group of computers that are wired together so that they can communicate with one another. When computers are hooked together in a network, users of those computers can send each other messages and share computer files and programs.

Computer networks today can be as small as two PCs hooked together in an office. They can be as big as thousands of computers of all different types spread all over the world and connected to one another not just by wires, but through telephone lines and even through the air via satellite.

To build a really big network, you build lots of little networks and then hook the networks to each other, creating an internetwork. That's all the Internet really is: the world's largest internetwork (hence its name). In homes, businesses, schools, and government offices all over the world, millions of computers of all different types—PCs, Macintoshes, big corporate mainframes, and others—are connected together in networks, and those networks are connected to one another to form the Internet. Because everything's connected, any computer on the Internet can communicate with any other computer on the Internet

Modems—Wherein the Lack of Speed Kills There are ways to connect to the Internet without a modem, which you'll discover more fully in "Getting Connected to the Internet." But odds are that you will start out with a modem and phone line for your Internet connection, so you must consider the capabilities of your modem in choosing or upgrading your computer for Internet access. Choosing a Computer I've told you that almost any computer—even an older one—can be used to get on the Internet, and that's true. But to take full advantage of what the Internet offers, you need a top-of-the-line computer, or pretty close to it. You see, some Internet tasks, such as email, demand little processing power from a computer and don't require a really fast Internet connection; they're neither processor-intensive nor communications-intensive. However, the main thing most newcomers to the Net want is access to the Web, and browsing the Web is just about the most processor-intensive, communications-intensive thing a computer can do. To take full advantage of the Web, a computer must be able to display and play the multimedia content—graphics, animation, video, and sound—that's increasingly built in to Web pages. Such tasks require a fast processor and plenty of memory. In fact, a Web browser capable of supporting this multimedia is about the most demanding application you can put on a PC or Mac, requiring more processing power and memory than any word processor or spreadsheet on the market. Types of Internet Accounts When you sign up with—subscribe to—an Internet service, you get what's called an Internet account. With an Internet account, you get the right to use the provider's Internet service, your very own email address (so you can send and receive email), and all the other information you need to set up your computer for accessing the Internet through the service. From most providers, you also might get any communications or client software you need, as discussed in the previous chapter. Cable Internet and DSL (Broadband)? In the last few years, a new category of personal Internet account has emerged, sometimes described as broadband because it sends and receives information so much faster than a regular dial-up account—as if the information were moving through a nice, fat, "broad" pipe instead of a slow, skinny pipe. Depending on what's available to you, you have your choice between two different kinds of broadband Internet access, described in the next sections: Cable Internet and DSL. (There are other broadband options, used mostly in business environments, but these two are the popular options for personal users.) The two options are different from each other, but have seven characteristics in common: They are much, much faster than a 56K dial-up account. Their speed enables them to carry Internet activities that are simply impractical over a dial-up connection, such as watching a movie online, high-quality videoconferencing, or using a computer somewhere out on the Net as a storage facility for your own files or backups. They allow you to use your phone line for telephone calls, faxing, or anything else while you are online. They can be set up so that you are always online. You don't have to do anything to get online each time you use the Net (as you must with a dial-up account); you just sit down and get to business. They are more expensive, on a monthly basis. They require more expensive communications hardware for your computer, rather than relying on the inexpensive modems included in nearly all computers today. Once you're online, actually using a broadband account—opening Web pages, exchanging email, and so on—takes the same steps you use on a regular dial-up account, the steps described throughout this book. Who Can I Get Dial-up Access From? You can get your Internet account from any of three main sources: A national Internet service provider (ISP) A local ISP, one that's headquartered in your city or town A commercial online service, such as AOL or CompuServe