Find out how the internet connects billions of devices and sends information around the world.
The internet is one of the most important inventions in human history. It is a vast global network connecting billions of computers, phones, tablets and other devices. When you send an email or watch a video, information travels across this network at incredible speed. Many people confuse the internet with the World Wide Web, but they are different things: the internet is the physical infrastructure (cables, routers, servers), while the World Wide Web is the system of websites and linked pages that runs on top of it. Data travelling across the internet is broken into small pieces called packets. Each packet can take a different route through the network and they are all reassembled in the correct order when they arrive. Routers are devices that direct packets to the right destination — a bit like a sorting office for digital data. Understanding how the internet works helps us use it more wisely and stay safe online.
