Can you make your own internet?

Can you make your own internet?

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3 min read

Yes! We can make our own internet. Then why don't we make it, why do we have to pay our ISP every month instead?

To understand this first we need to understand what is internet and how does it work:

Suppose there are two computers, if they want to communicate, we have to connect them either physically (ethernet cable) or wirelessly (wifi, Bluetooth).

Screenshot 2021-11-01 153603.png This network is not limited to only two computers, we can connect as many computers as we wish. If we are trying to connect more than 2 computers, let's say we are trying to connect 10 computers. We will require 45 cables to connect them all, while each computer requires 9 plugs each to connect the other 9 computers.

Screenshot 2021-11-01 154502.png So now think about connecting all the computers in the world using this method, it is impossible, right? So to tackle this problem, each computer on a network is connected to a tiny computer called a router. Router makes sure that a message sent from a given computer arrives at the right destination computer. If computer A wants to send a message to computer B, computer A has to send a message to the router and the router forwards the message to computer B.

Screenshot 2021-11-01 155734.png

This system will work pretty well for 100 computers, what about connecting billions of them? A single router cannot connect to billions of computers across the world. So we connect different routers to each other because as I said above a router is a computer. By connecting computers to routers, then routers to routers, we are able to scale infinitely. Such a network is called the Internet.๐ŸŒ

Screenshot 2021-11-01 160644.png

But think about this how we are going to connect these different routers to each other? Are we going to lay a cable from one city to another, is it even possible? Well, there are cables already linked to your house telephone cables. To connect our network to the telephone infrastructure, we need a special piece of equipment called a modem which turns information from our network into information manageable by the telephone network. Now we are connected to the telephone infrastructure. Now to send a message from our network to someone else's network who lives in another state, I have to connect our network to an Internet Service Provider(ISP). An ISP is a company that manages some special routers that are all linked together and can also access other ISPs' routers. So the message from our network is carried through the network of ISP networks to the destination network.

And to connect between the countries, there are cables under the sea which connects different countries.

To do this, you'll need a server that can take your connection and direct it to the internet. Then, you need to apply to your country's ISP organization to get an IP address, however, you can't get one IP address, you have to buy a bunch of them. After that, you need to connect your server to your home, so you can get on the internet. You can do this by laying fiber cables(expensive).

Till this point, you have spent in 6 figures, so it will be best if you pay your ISP and get your internet!