Guides/

How the Internet Works

What really happens in the half-second between typing an address and seeing a page.

5 min readBeginner

In one sentence: the internet is a giant network of computers that pass small packets of data to each other until they reach the right address.

01The simple idea

Think of the postal system. Every house has an address, letters are sorted at many post offices along the way, and nobody needs to know the whole route — each office just passes the letter one step closer.

The internet works the same way. Your phone, laptop and every website's server each have an address. When you ask for a page, your request is chopped into small packets, and routers around the world pass them along, hop by hop, until they arrive.

02Step by step

Here's what happens when you open a website. Click each step, or press Play all.

03Why packets?

Sending data in small pieces makes the internet tough and fair:

  • No single road. If one route is busy or broken, packets simply take another.
  • Shared lines. Millions of people can use the same cables at once, because their packets are mixed together.
  • Easy repair. If one packet gets lost, only that piece is sent again — not the whole file.

04Key words

IP addressA device's number on the network, like 93.184.216.34.
PacketA small chunk of data with a "to" and "from" address attached.
RouterA device that passes packets one step closer to their destination.
ISPInternet Service Provider — the company that connects you to the internet.

Fun fact: the internet and the web aren't the same thing. The internet is the network; the web is just one of the services that runs on it — alongside email, video calls and games.

05Quick check

What does DNS do?

Right — DNS works like a phone book. Files live on the server, and encryption is HTTPS's job (guide 05).