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About the Internet

How information is transmitted over the Internet

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The Internet is a packet switching network. Every communication is broken

into packets by TCP (Transmission Control Protocol). Each packet contains

the addresses of the sending and receiving computers along with the

information to be communicated.

IP (Internet Protocol) is responsible for routing the packets to their

destinations. Each packet may take a different route across the Internet,

and packets may be broken up into fragments. Packets travel across the

Internet, moving from one router to another. Routers look at the destination

address and forward the packet to the next router. IP does not guarantee

the delivery of every packet.

On the destination computer, TCP joins the packets into the complete

communication. TCP may have to reorder the packets if they are received

out of order, and it may have to reassemble fragmented packets. TCP

requests retransmission of missing packets.

TCP/IP is often used to refer to a group of protocols used on the Internet,

including UDP (User Datagram Protocol), ICMP (Internet Control Message

Protocol), and IGMP (Internet Group Membership Protocol).

Router

Sending

computer

Receiving

computer

Routes that a packet or fragments of a packet may take