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A business that provides subscriber-based access to the Internet. Subscribers can be individuals or businesses. Internet Service Providers operate at the fourth or lowest level of the Internet. At the third level, regional providers aggregate traffic from lower-order ISPs to the second, backbone level. The highest level in North America is the NAP (Network Access Point), which acts as peer-to peer interconnection points for the largest backbones. ISPs use Internet routers, servers and rack-mounted modems to provide a variety of services, including web site hosting, FTP service, e-mail accounts, unified messaging, audio and video broadcasting, Internet telephony and fax gateway services.
ISP connection options
ISPs employ a range of technologies to enable consumers to connect to their network. For "home users", the most popular options include dial-up, DSL (typically ADSL), Broadband wireless access, Cable modem, and ISDN (typically BRI). For customers who have more demanding requirements, such as medium-to-large businesses, or other ISPs, DSL (often SHDSL or ADSL), Ethernet, Metro Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet, Frame Relay, ISDN (BRI or PRI), ATM, satellite Internet access and SONET are more likely. With the increasing popularity of downloading music and online video and the general demand for faster page loads, higher bandwidth connections are becoming more popular.
Typical Home User connection:
Dial-up
DSL
Broadband wireless access
Cable modem
ISDN
Typical Business connection:
DSL
SHDSL
Ethernet technologies
How ISPs connect to the Internet
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