Is there a way to internet without an ISP ?

self | December 14, 2013 | knarf

[knarf]

If The ISP's are taken by the government, is there a way to use computers and the internet ?

[knarf]

A scary thought I just had.

I'm assuming an ISP is basically one entity spread out over a vast network of other pieces (correct me if I'm wrong), and that the ISP's ARE vulnerable.

If not .. comfort me

If they are vulnerable, how do we coputerate if they go down ?

[Smokin' Joe]

bookmark

[Dan(9698)]

ISP is just for email.

The other stuff you are on your own.

[Jeff Chandler]

[smoothsailing]

WiFi

[RegulatorCountry]

There is no internet without internet service, so you do need an Internet Service Provider or ISP.

[Conspiracy Guy]

If they take them down. It’s down.

[JRandomFreeper]

Having been an Operations Director of an ISP, I can assure you that ISPs provide more than email. They provide the pipe and routing that connects you to the rest of the internet.

/johnny

[knarf]

What makes an ISP, an ISP?

[usconservative]

ISP is just for email.

Incorrect. Your ISP is your gateway out to the Internet.

Besides basic email (which ANYONE can provide) Your ISP provides Domain Name Services, which translate http://www.freerepublic.com into Free Republic's IP Address of 209.157.64.201 so your ISP knows where to send those packets.

So No, you cannot really get on the Internet without having a basic Internet Service Provider (thus the name: Internet Service Provider.)

[max americana]

Reminds me of the South Park episode where people found out there is no internet and Americans moved around the country like in the Depression looking for a wifi signal.

[bigbob]

Nope. Not legally, at least. You have to have a means of connecting to the internet backbone, which is the service ISPs provide. There are services like Winlink http://www.winlink.org/ that provide access to the internet via HF radio (i.e. for mariners) but you’re just switching from one ISP to another.

[knarf]

Is an ISP just an entity with permission to operate ?

Or is it a building with electricity, electronics and people that know what they're doing ?

[Mechanicos]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulletin_board_system

[Ramius]

Yeah, -BE- an ISP. Aside from that, no.

[mountn man]

What makes an ISP, an ISP?

For starters, the letter I.
Then the letter S.
Then finally the letter P.

[JRandomFreeper]

An internet service provider connects you to the wider internet and provides the routing required for you to access the internet.

At miniumum, an ISP has a big, fat pipe to one of the majors like ATT, or Savvis, and distributes that among its customers, and provides routing services and a public IP address.

/johnny

[knarf]

I guess what I'm getting at is;

Is there a way to protect internetconnect.com, 123 Main St., somewhere in the USA with patriots and machine guns and stuff ?

I mean, if 123 Main Street has a protected generator and fuel source and the building and electronics and all that ...

or is there a gummint kill switch that says ... nope .. you're done ?

[Wuli]

“ISP is just for email.”

The term ISP simply means “Internet Service Provider” which, in other words means whomever - what entity - is providing your computer or cell-phone device with access to the Internet.

Access to the Internet is access to the Internet, whether for Internet based Email or anything else.

It is therefore, not “just for Email”. You may need an Internet Service Provider for Internet-based Email, but whether you have Internet-based Email or not you need an ISP of some sort for ANY Internet access.

[Ray76]

You could go back to dialing a phone number to connect to a site. Think BBS.