How the internet connects

In daily life, we open websites, watch videos, and send messages on smartphones and PCs.

On screen, it may look like you are simply opening an app.

In reality, information moves across physical infrastructure on Earth from your device to the destination server.

The internet is not an abstract space separated from reality.

Across the Earth, there are many communication cables connecting countries, cities, and buildings.

Submarine cables play an especially important role in communication that crosses national borders.

On the ocean floor, communication cables are laid between continents.

If you want to see how submarine cables are actually laid out, TeleGeography's "Submarine Cable Map" is a useful reference.

URL : https://www.submarinecablemap.com/

You can check major submarine cables around the world and the places where cables land on shore on a map.

However, this kind of map is reference material for understanding the overall picture of submarine cables. It does not mean your communication always follows exactly those routes every time.

In other words, when you view an overseas website, much of that communication is not flying through the sky. It reaches distant servers through land-based optical fiber and submarine cables.

However, communication does not necessarily use only cables.

Satellite communication is still used today, and depending on region and purpose, it is an important connection method. The situations where satellite communication is used will likely continue to change.

Even so, for now, the central infrastructure that stably carries large amounts of data is optical fiber and submarine cables.

Communication carries information by turning it into signals

In communication, information such as text, images, video, and audio is not sent as-is.

Computers convert information into small pieces of data.

The foundation of that is 0 and 1.

For example, the letter "A" is handled inside a computer as a defined sequence of 0s and 1s.

A = 01000001

In this way, text, images, and videos are converted into numerical data that computers can handle.

Then, that data made of 0s and 1s is actually carried as some kind of signal.

Electrical signals.

Light signals.

Radio signals.

For example, in simplified terms, a machine can judge "a high-voltage state" as 1 and "a low-voltage state" as 0.

Optical fiber carries information using changes in light.

Wi-Fi and smartphone communication carry information using changes in radio waves.

In real communication, data is represented not only by switching on and off, but also by changes in the strength, timing, frequency, phase, and similar properties of electricity, light, and radio waves.

In simple terms, communication follows a flow like this.

Information humans see
↓
0 and 1 data
↓
Signals such as electricity, light, or radio waves
↓
Reaches the other party's machine

You do not need to memorize the details here.

First, understand that information on the internet is carried as real-world signals.

Wireless communication is not flying through the air the whole time

Smartphones and Wi-Fi are wireless, so they may seem unrelated to cables.

In reality, however, only part of the communication is wireless.

For example, with home Wi-Fi, communication from a smartphone or PC to the Wi-Fi router uses radio waves.

But beyond that router, in many cases, it connects to a wired network such as an optical fiber line.

Mobile communication on smartphones is the same.

Communication from the smartphone to the base station uses radio waves.

But beyond the base station, it connects to the internet through the carrier's network, optical fiber lines, and other relay lines.

In other words, much communication follows a flow like this.

Smartphone / PC
↓
Radio waves
↓
Wi-Fi router or base station
↓
Carrier network
↓
Internet
↓
Website server

Wireless communication does not mean communication that flies through the air from beginning to end.

In many cases, it uses radio waves to nearby equipment, then proceeds through cables and carrier networks beyond that.

Satellite communication is basically an extension of this idea.

Communication from a terminal or antenna to a satellite uses radio waves, but after that it connects to a ground station or carrier network and then to the internet.

The internet is not one giant line

The internet is not one giant cable that connects the whole world.

In reality, it is made by connecting many networks.

A network is a mechanism that connects multiple computers, smartphones, and similar devices so they can exchange information.

For example, when smartphones and PCs are connected to a Wi-Fi router inside a home, that is also a small network.

Schools and companies each have their own networks.

Mobile carriers, telecommunications carriers, data centers, and cloud providers each have their own networks.

When those networks connect further to outside networks, they become able to exchange data with servers and devices around the world.

In other words, the internet is:

a collection of networks

It is not one giant machine managing communication around the world.

Home networks, company and school networks, mobile carrier networks, telecommunications carrier networks, data center networks, and similar networks are connected using common protocols.

The internet is this huge system made by many networks connecting to one another.

Websites are on servers somewhere

Website data is placed on a server somewhere.

A server is a computer that receives requests from your device and returns the necessary data.

When you open a website, your device sends a request to the server saying:

Please send me the data for this page

The server receives that and returns the data needed to display the page.

That data reaches your device and is displayed as a web page in the browser.

However, for large websites, data may arrive not only from the original server, but also from delivery servers called CDNs.

A CDN is a mechanism that places website data in multiple locations around the world and delivers it quickly from a location close to the user.

The details of how CDNs work are covered in another article.

Here, understand that viewing a website means exchanging data between your device and a server.

Important perspective for learning anonymity

When thinking about anonymity, the first important thing is to know where communication travels.

Your communication is not flying through empty space directly to the server.

It starts from your device and reaches the target server through Wi-Fi routers, base stations, carrier networks, submarine cables, data centers, and similar infrastructure.

Depending on the case, it may also pass through mechanisms such as satellite communication or CDNs.

Along the way, there are devices and providers that relay communication.

That is why, when thinking about anonymity, you should not simply think "I did not enter my name, so I am anonymous." You need to separate:

where communication travels
where information may be visible
which information may be recorded

IP addresses, DNS, HTTPS, and communication logs are covered in separate articles.

Summary

The internet is built on real-world infrastructure.

Across the Earth, communication infrastructure such as optical fiber and submarine cables is laid out.

If you want to see the overall picture of submarine cables, a map site such as Submarine Cable Map makes it easier to understand that the internet is supported by physical infrastructure on Earth.

URL : https://www.submarinecablemap.com/

Smartphones and Wi-Fi use radio waves part of the way, but beyond that, in many cases they connect to wired networks and carrier networks.

The situations where satellite communication is used may continue to change, but at present, the central infrastructure for carrying large amounts of data is optical fiber and submarine cables.

In communication, text, images, and videos are converted into 0 and 1 data, and that data is carried as signals such as electricity, light, and radio waves.

And the internet is not one giant line, but a collection of networks connected around the world.

This sense that "communication travels through physical infrastructure on Earth" becomes the first foundation for understanding networks and anonymity.

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