The Internet

In order to connect to the Internet, you require a device called a

router. A router forwards data packets to the device requesting it.
Without a router, you have no way of connecting to the Internet
from your home.

Bandwidth – a measurement of capacity. Bandwidth is the number

of bits that can go through the network connection in a second.
Bandwidth is always measured in bits, however:

 If you have a slow internet connection, your reading will

probably be in bits per second (bps). This will likely result in you
being unavailable to stream video of any kind without high
amount of buffering, as well as slow webpage loading times.
 If you have an average connection speed, the one for most
households now in the UK, your bandwidth will be measured in
megabits per second (mbps). 5mbps and above will allow you
to stream HD videos with little to no buffer, however if multiple
users are on the same network, it will likely result in poor
connections. A fibre optic network typically sees speeds of
30mbps or more, which will be plentiful in streaming multiple
contents and viewing webpages/downloading files.
 A very high bandwidth, not common at all in the UK but in
some places in the world, receives bandwidths of over 1
gigabyte per second (gbps). In honesty, it’s wasted, because not
a lot of technology can take that speed appropriately.

Latency – a measurement of delay. Latency is measured in

milliseconds. It’s the delay between a bit leaving one device, and
arriving at the other.
 When playing video games or on Google you want a low
latency as you want it to be quick.
 If you’re browsing on the internet, it doesn’t really matter what
the latency is, you won’t be affected greatly.
REMEMBER! You want a HIGH BANDWIDTH but LOW LATENCY!
Communication Protocols

VoIP – Voice over Internet Protocol - enables you to make free voice
calls over the Internet through services like Skype, Xbox LIVE, PSN
etc. It is also the same protocol used for sending videos over the
internet.

SMTP – Simple Mail Transfer Protocol – used when the user sends an
email to the senders email server and delivered to the recipients
email server
POP3 – Post Office Protocol – the protocol potentially used by the
recipient. It downloads the email to the recipients device and is then
deleted off the server. The email can be read offline.
IMAP – Internet Message Access Protocol – email is read on the
recipients server but is not delivered. Can be accessed anywhere in
the world with an internet connection.

REMEMBER!
Post Office Protocol – a Postman delivers a letter. He or she doesn’t
store it as well at the post office.
IMAP is just the opposite.

WAN – Wide Area Network

LAN – Local Area Network