Networking Basics: From Local Networks to the Internet
Networking Basics: From Local Networks to the Internet Networks connect devices to share data. A local area network (LAN) links computers, phones, printers, and smart devices at home or in an office. The Internet is a large collection of networks that lets you reach websites, services, and other people around the world. Understanding the basics helps you set up a reliable connection and fix common problems. To use the Internet, a device first joins a network and gets an address, called an IP. Within a LAN, devices often use private IPs like 192.168.x.x. The router hands out these private addresses, while the router’s outside connection uses a public IP from your Internet Service Provider (ISP). This setup lets many devices share a single public face to the wider Internet. ...