Internet Service Providers! Just What Is An ISP?

With all the dotcom and internet advances of the last twenty or so years, you may get lost in the www's, http's, html's, and other miscellaneous acronyms associated with the technology. Perhaps you've heard of ISPs, and maybe you even know that it stands for "internet service providers". However, do you really understand the term and what it means? What is an ISP, and what do they do for you?

ISPs are providers of internet access and related services. In other words, without ISPs, the general public would not have access to the World Wide Web. For a monthly access fee, internet service is provided to consumers by these companies. Two options are recognized in regards to the type of internet access available, termed as dial up and broadband. Internet service can be accessed via dial up connection, usually with a connection not faster than 56 kbit/second. Other options are classified as broadband, provided as wireless access, cable modem, DSL, satellite, fiber optics, and Ethernet. All of these run at speeds ranging from 64 kb to 20Mb per second and sometimes greater.

The first ISPs began in the early 1990's. This was when the Internet became popular for commercial use, provided by companies like Mindspring to a limited customer base in 1994. Most of the small ISPs were run with homemade software using a single server facility located in a garage. Users of these ISPs would pay anywhere from twenty to forty dollars a month for access that was only provided at a speed of up to 14.4 kbit/second and was highly unreliable. At this time, large companies with proprietary software operated completely separate networks (like MSN or AOL).

When V.90 was developed in 1998, download speeds were increased to 56 kbit/second. The internet became a way to advertise and gain business. Prices charged by ISPs began to even out, with a dial up connection typically costing $19.95 a month. In the 2000's, broadband became a new way to access the internet and quickly began to overtake the sales of dial up connections. Faster, cheaper, and more reliable, this was to be the internet technology of the future.

However, many of the smaller ISPs couldn't afford to use DSL and had no access to cable modem. Therefore, they began to provide their own solutions via wireless internet access technology. Today, this is a commonly used technology.

So what is the future of the ISP? With most ISPs still turning over a profit, it seems they will be around forever. Yet, with the possibility of future free wireless internet access, will consumers continue to pay for subscription services through internet service providers? Why would anyone pay for a service that can be received for free? Perhaps they won't, but that remains to be seen.

If you are curious about additional information on internet service providers, visit our website at Internet Service Providers to learn more.

Hot Topics In Computers

    Choosing a Laptop Computer Based on Hardware and Software Needs

    Laptop computers are one of the most desirable techie gadgets. A laptop is a portable computer that could comfortably be used while on a person's lap - hence the name. It contains all the basic and ne...

    How To Properly Install A New Video Card

    Your video card is one of those components in your computer you want to both learn as much about it as possible and to learn how to remove the old one and install a new card quickly.Playing those awes...

    Why CRM Projects Fail

    1 Overview

    This articles looks at some of the human? i.e. people-related factors that can cause a CRM project to fail. We then look at why, for those businesses already utilising Microsoft Outlook f...

    Three Things All Affiliate Marketers Need To Survive On The Internet

    When it comes to being an affiliate marketer, every single one of them are searching for the highest paying market. Occasionally, they tend to think there is some formula available that is pure magic ...

    Why Easy To Use Software Is Putting You At Risk

    Title
    -----
    Why Easy To Use Software Is Putting You At Risk

    Can Easy To Use Software Also Be Secure
    ----------------------------
    Anyone who has been working with computers for a long tim...

    Tips On How To Choose A Satellite Internet Service Provider

    Satellite internet access is one of the ways that you can have a broadband internet connection that will allow you to surf the web at high speeds. But not only that, it's also the only broadband inter...

    How to Use Computer Data Recovery Software

    Often our computer files are messed up because our computers will write our files when we are done using them wherever there is available space. This is why it is important to use computer data recove...

    The Solution To Finding Your Lost Files - Data Recovery Companies

    When the worst happens to your computer and all your files disappear, never worry! There are a number of quality data recovery companies that are able to restore your critical files quickly and easily...

    How To Make Money In Computer Repair

    Every home seems to have a computer or computer-related product these days, so the idea that you can make money as a computer repair technician isn't so far-fetched. Computer repair is a necessary ser...

    Finding Your Niche To Get Started In Affiliate Marketing

    Getting started in affiliate marketing is really quite easy, but too often, many people mistakenly think it's a lot easier than it actually is. In most cases, the only thing you need to do to join an ...

    Office Help is Just a Click Away

    "The Internet has revolutionized many business sectors and has single-handedly created one - virtual assistance." ("More firms use virtual assistance" by Nick Eason, CNN.com)

    For many years busine...

    Adware Removal Tips

    Have you tried (and failed) to remove those annoying pop-ups known as adware? There may be reason. You can manually remove adware components one by one, but there is a good chance you would miss some ...

Most Recent Computers Supplements

Interesting Today:

Most Recent Computers Blogs:

Releated to Computers:

Computers Links:

Computers Computers Rss feeds.