Internet service provider

An Internet service provider (ISP) is a company or group that helps people connect to the Internet.

ISPs can be different types, like companies that sell their services, community-owned groups, non-profit organizations, or private businesses.

ISPs provide many important services. These include helping people connect to the Internet, letting websites communicate, registering website names, hosting websites, and providing space for servers. These services make it easy and effective for everyone to use the Internet.

History

The Internet began as a network used by government labs and universities. Over time, more companies and groups joined, sometimes using tools like dial-up. By the late 1980s, the Internet opened up for public and commercial use, with restrictions removed by 1991 after the World Wide Web was introduced.

In the 1980s, services like CompuServe, Prodigy, and America Online let people send email, but full Internet access was not easy for everyone. The first companies that offered direct Internet access for a monthly fee started in Australia and the United States in 1989. One of these was The World in Brookline, Massachusetts, which became the first commercial ISP in the US in November 1989. These early services used dial-up connections through telephone lines.

Later, cable and telephone companies used their existing wires to offer faster broadband connections. In 1995, restrictions on commercial use of the Internet were removed.

Net neutrality

Main article: Net neutrality in the United States

In 2014, people talked about whether Internet service providers should be allowed to create faster lanes for certain content. In 2015, rules were made to keep the Internet fair for everyone by treating it like a utility service. However, these rules were removed in 2018.

Provisions for low-income families

Since December 31, 2021, a program in the U.S. has helped qualifying families by giving them a discount on their Internet service each month.

Classifications

Access providers

Access provider ISPs help people and businesses connect to the Internet. They use many kinds of technology, like old phone lines, Wi-Fi, and fiber-optics. For homes and small businesses, common ways to connect include dial-up, DSL, cable modems, or ISDN. Some places now offer Fiber To The Home connections.

Bigger businesses can use faster connections like gigabit Ethernet or Frame Relay. There are also wireless options, such as cellular networks and satellite Internet access.

Mailbox providers

A mailbox provider helps people and groups manage email addresses and keep messages safe. They use special servers to send, receive, and store emails. Some mailbox providers also offer Internet access, but others, like Gmail, Yahoo! Mail, and Outlook.com, focus just on email.

Hosting ISPs

Internet hosting services give people and businesses places to store websites, emails, and other online files. They can also offer extra services like virtual servers or cloud storage.

Transit ISPs

ISPs sometimes need to connect to bigger ISPs to reach more parts of the Internet. These bigger ISPs are called upstream ISPs. Smaller ISPs pay these bigger ones for access. This helps everyone get online, even if they are far apart.

Virtual ISPs

A virtual ISP buys Internet services from another company and then sells those services to its own customers. This lets people get online using the networks and tools of the company they bought from.

Free ISPs

Some ISPs give away their service for free. They often show ads while people are online, which helps pay for the service. Others are run by volunteers without aiming to make money.

Wireless ISP

A wireless Internet service provider (WISP) gives Internet access using wireless technology. This can include regular Wi-Fi networks or special equipment that works on different radio frequencies.

ISPs in rural regions

In many rural areas, there is often only one company providing Internet service. This can make Internet prices higher and service quality lower than in cities, where many companies compete. This difference can make it hard for some people in rural areas to get good, affordable Internet.

Satellite Internet services

Altnets

Altnets are local broadband networks. They are made to give people another choice besides the main Internet service providers in their area. This helps people have more options for their internet service.

Peering

ISPs can connect with each other at special places called peering points or Internet exchange points. This helps them send data between their networks without extra fees. These connections make data travel faster and more reliably.

Some ISPs, called Tier 1 ISPs, don’t need to pay other ISPs to send data because they only have customers or other ISPs connected to them. These Tier 1 ISPs are all connected so data can move smoothly between them. Internet exchange points are places where many networks meet, often found in buildings called data centers.

Law enforcement and intelligence assistance

In many countries, Internet service providers must help law enforcement agencies. They may need to keep some information, like browsing history, so that governments can look at it if needed. For example, the United States and the United Kingdom have laws that say they must help this way.

Some intelligence agencies also watch Internet traffic. In the U.S., there is a program called PRISM that looks at a lot of Internet traffic. This has made people think about privacy. Internet service providers use special tools to collect data and send it to law enforcement or intelligence groups.