What Is An Internet Service Provider?

Date First Published: 25th January 2022

Topic: Computer Networking

Topic: Internet Organisations

Computer Terms & Definitions

Difficulty Level: 2/10

Learn about what an internet service provider is in this article.

An internet service provider, also known as an internet network service provider, or an ISP, is a company that provides internet access for both homes and businesses, usually for a monthly fee that is added to the ISP account billing. The average monthly fee for internet services cannot be listed here as the price greatly varies, depending on the location, speed, and the type of ISP. ISPs are also in charge of providing people with a router and a network connection, which contains a password, a username, and a unique public IP address. Some ISPs may also provide TV licences, web hosting, email services, and domain name registration services.

ISPs are what allow people to access the internet by an internet connection. Without an ISP, people would have no internet access, which would make it impossible to browse the internet, perform any online tasks, or even view this webpage. It would also be impossible to browse the internet if the ISP was down, unless a hotspot or mobile data was used, which are the two most common ways to get around times where an ISP is experiencing downtime.

As of now, the most well-known internet service providers are Sky, Virgin Media, AOL, and Talktalk. There are thousands and thousands of ISPs in the world, so finding one shouldn't be too difficult.

Is There Are A Limit On The Amount Of Data Per Month?

Some ISPs have data caps, which is the maximum amount of data that can be used per month by a certain network. Going over the data cap could result in charges for extra data or a slower internet speed. The main reason why some ISPs have data caps is to prevent their networks from getting overloaded, which would cause other users to experience a slower internet connection. However, most well-known ISPs have no limits on the amount of data that is used per month and provide unlimited data.

History

ISPs have been around since 1972. It is believed that the first internet service provider ever was Telnet, which was known as the first commercial version of ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network), and one of the first networks to implement the TCP/IP protocol suite. In addition, access to ARPANET was expanded in 1981. The first commercial ISP that is known and still used today is "The World", which was launched in 1989. "The World" was originally located in Brookline, Massachusetts and was the first ISP to provide a direct connection to the internet. In November 1989, its first customer logged in.

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