Internet connectivity involves a lot of moving parts. A few basic processes power the internet, and knowing how they work helps you choose your connection wisely. It also clears up how things actually work behind the scenes online.
What Is IP Transit?
The internet is really a series of smaller networks linked together across the globe. Picture each network as a road, since it connects people and places to one another. That’s the idea behind the old phrase “information superhighway.” No single road leads to every location on Earth, so no single line connects to every computer on the planet. IP transit describes how these networks work together to share traffic and move data across the world. Each road connects to another, and another, until the network reaches the whole globe.
All Your Devices
Imagine the internet as a huge network of tubes, with information flowing through those tubes from one computer to another. That movement has a name: IP transport, the way data moves from one point of the internet to another. An IP transit network can be a Wide Area Network (WAN) like the internet, or a Local Area Network (LAN). A LAN could be your college campus or an office with its own dedicated internet access providing IP transit services.
A LAN is a collection of IoT devices, PCs, laptops, network printers, phones, routers, and switches. They’re all interconnected, since they’re part of the same IP transit network. It can reach the outside world through a dedicated internet line, so its main router runs managed internet access. Most of the IP transport happens inside that office. It can also extend out to the internet or to another IP transit network. The router manages internet transit and IP transport, so it lets specific data out into the WAN while filtering incoming data.
What is Managed Internet Access?
A router with a dedicated internet connection provides managed internet access. It does this by setting conditions for data to pass through it. The TCP protocol handles most of that sorting, sending data out in short bursts. How frequent those bursts are, and how much data each one carries, defines IP transit. It’s like morse code, only much faster. Such data bursts travel through the router to the dedicated internet line and reach their endpoint. That endpoint is another router connected to another dedicated internet line. It decodes the message and decides whether to let it through.
Data Filtering
This filtering process is the basis of managed internet access. It decides which data packets to keep and which ones to let through. Internet transit analysis allows through only the packets sent by “certified” devices. IP transport is simply the data traffic that moves one data package from point A to point B.
A data packet can encounter other routers, switches, and devices along the way. DNS servers convert IPs from numeric format into the human-readable web addresses you actually type. Dedicated internet access servers use a managed internet line to let those data packets through. Since the internet works this fast, the endpoint might be a friend’s computer, with the data packets carrying the emoticon or photo you just sent. IP transit services move that fast.
What Is IP Transport?
Network size, combined with dedicated internet, is mainly what separates IP transit from IP transport. IP transit services can occur in any office with two computers or more. All you need is managed internet access and a dedicated internet line. Such an office setup represents an IP transit network. In this network, devices also exchange data with each other. The way the main router, connected to a dedicated internet line, handles that data is what we call IP transport. Here, data can flow through a series of routes.
Your Office LAN
Wired networks today are mainly computers linked together with a dedicated internet connection and fiber optic cable. Network cards connect the wires to each device and let data flow through. They decode data sent by the router or another PC and present it in a format the PC understands. A printer, a fax machine, or an office server can have a wired network card and a dedicated internet connection. That makes it part of the network too.
Wireless Data Transfer
Another way to connect devices is wirelessly. A wireless router watches for transmitted data, captures the radio packets, and sends them down a dedicated internet line. WiFi is the most common technology, and it also operates on the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands. 5GHz bands are much faster than the old 2.4GHz standard, so they’re often the better pick when your devices support it. Bluetooth is another proven IP transit technology. However, the Bluetooth standard’s IP transit network doesn’t cover many devices or long distances.
LoRaWAN
LoRaWAN technology is one of the newer entries in the wireless space. It operates on the sub-gigabit radio spectrum, using 868MHz in Europe and 915MHz in the US. A dedicated internet connection links to the LoRaWAN router. Devices such as wireless sensors send data to this router. That data can include temperature readings, humidity levels, door status, or water meter readings. The LoRaWAN router captures that data and sends it to The Things Network through dedicated internet access. The Things Network then decodes this IP transit data with regular IP transport technology and converts it to binary format. Servers then receive that data and read it. They output it in a human-readable format, creating graphs that people can actually use.
How Does Data Move?
If the internet is a system of roads, IP transport is how data travels from one place to another. Depending on what type of data you are moving, you may need to use different types of “vehicles.” You may be able to travel directly to your destination. Or you may need to make multiple stops along the way. IP transport involves all the systems, devices, and processes that get your data from you to its final destination. A key part of transport is bandwidth, or how many lanes there are on which your data can travel. Your cable type sets your bandwidth. The most common cable types are coaxial, fiber optic, and Cat5. All IP transport ultimately depends on how much bandwidth you have to move your data.
Types of Networks Using IP Transit Services
Networks that use IP transit services can be almost anything. That includes everything from a kitchen full of internet-capable appliances to a college campus. It can also mean a company with thousands of devices and users. A dedicated internet connection is all it takes. It makes sure these devices reach users in other parts of the city, country, or the world. Wireless technology eliminated most of the need for cables. Now IP transit happens from smartphone to smartphone, or from game consoles to academic internet servers.
The Role of Routers
At the core of IP transit is the router. It’s the device that understands incoming data and sends it further down a dedicated internet line. Each IP transport network has its own router, and so does the dedicated Internet Service Provider (ISP). The ISP likely uses a mix of hardware and software routers that can handle massive data traffic. The ISP usually manages dedicated internet access with the help of an internet server. That server has advanced routing features. It can handle large loads of data at once, serving dozens of companies at the same time.
The Role of the Dedicated Internet Connection Provider
An ISP connects to all these campuses, office buildings, and homes. On its own, it’s an IP transit network, or a Wide Area Network. The ISP handles all the traffic from the campuses to its main server. Inside each campus, smaller servers or routers handle the internal IP transit data. Many smaller LAN networks connect to a larger WAN network. That WAN connects to the largest Wide Area Network of all: the internet. One or more Internet Service Providers handle internet transit in each country. These might be mobile data operators, or the ones that deliver Netflix movies to your smart TV. These ISPs handle the large WANs, offer IP transit services, and send all that data on to DNS servers.
DNS is short for “Domain Name Server,” the servers mentioned earlier. They transform IPs from numbers into human-readable web addresses. They, too, are part of the IP transport process. Any router, switch, hub, server, or end device is part of the IP transport process. It works at both the transport level and the conversion level. It sends and receives data packets through TCP and other common protocols.
Your everyday smartphone is itself an IP transport device. Like other internet-connected devices, it uses managed internet access. For example, it can send your Instagram pictures to the router in your home. The router sends that data to the ISP’s server, which in turn passes it to the DNS server. From there, it may reach an ISP in another country, all the way to another user’s device.
Dedicated Internet Access
To continue the analogy, dedicated internet access is like driving your own lane, or riding in the highway’s HOV lane. You get guaranteed access to a set amount of bandwidth for sending your data. This type of high-quality internet connection is ideal for web apps or other business apps. That “lane” is always available and always moving at your guaranteed speed.
IP transit gives you access to the internet beyond the scope of your own internet service provider (ISP). Dedicated internet service, on the other hand, tends to have fewer latency issues. It’s also more reliable, especially if you need larger bandwidth. Some businesses, such as financial trading, banking, and email services, need guaranteed internet speeds and bandwidth. For them, dedicated internet access is the right choice.
Whenever you click a link online, that click instantly turns into binary data. Managed internet access helps carry it to a webpage that might be thousands of miles away. Along the way, it passes through a large number of devices and routers. Each one decides whether to let your click through. Eventually, Google or another company’s webserver receives it.
Want Guidance on IP Transit and Dedicated Internet Access?
For clear guidance on how IP transit and transport work, contact Volico today. Our team can also explain how dedicated internet access could benefit your business. We’re here to help you make informed decisions about your network needs.
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