How Does the Internet Work?
The internet is not a cloud — it is a mesh of networks that agree to exchange packets. Your data is chopped into packets, each carrying a destination IP address; routers pass every packet hop by hop toward that address, across your ISP, internet exchanges and undersea fibre, until it arrives and is reassembled.
Packets, not pipes
Nothing "streams" whole. Every email, video frame and page is split into packets (~1,500 bytes), each individually addressed and routed — possibly over different paths — then reassembled by TCP at the far end. Packet switching is why one cable cut re-routes traffic instead of severing conversations (see circuit vs packet switching).
The chain of networks
Your device → home router (NAT) → your ISP's access network → the ISP core → an Internet Exchange Point where ISPs and content networks interconnect → the destination's ISP or data centre. Long-haul legs ride fibre — including the undersea cables that carry the overwhelming majority of intercontinental traffic.
BGP — how networks find each other
Each network (an autonomous system) announces which IP prefixes it can reach using BGP, the internet's routing protocol. Routers stitch these announcements into forwarding tables, so every packet's next hop is a local decision that still gets it globally delivered. It's why the internet has no centre and no owner — just agreements (BGP explained).
DNS and the last step
Humans use names; packets need numbers. DNS translates google.com to an IP before any of the above begins — and the full journey of a single page load is traced step by step in what happens when you type google.com.
Frequently asked questions
What actually is the internet?
A global mesh of independently-run networks that agree to exchange packets using common protocols (IP, TCP, BGP, DNS). There is no central computer — just interconnection agreements between thousands of networks.
How does data travel across the internet?
It is split into packets, each stamped with a destination IP address. Routers forward each packet hop by hop — device, home router, ISP, internet exchanges, undersea fibre — until it reaches the destination network and is reassembled.
Who owns the internet?
No one. Each network owns its own infrastructure; standards bodies (IETF, ICANN) coordinate protocols and addressing, and BGP agreements between networks create the global fabric.
Why does the internet keep working when links fail?
Packet switching plus dynamic routing: BGP withdraws broken paths and routers forward around failures, so packets simply take a different route.
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