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How the Unternet Works... an OverviewThe internet is a means of connecting computers worldwide. For the US, the internet is made up of five interconnected rings known as the backbone. Internet Service Providers (ISP) connect to this ring to be able to send and receive messages for their customers. When you sign up with an ISP you gain the right to be a user for internet access. Your ISP validates you when you sign on. Mail messages and web pages are handled in different ways by the upper levels of the internet. Some ISP contract with a mail provider to handle the email addresses given to you as a user. Most large ISPs like phone or cable companies may handle their own email services. Web pages come to you through a link connecting your computer with the web page computer (server) at the URL address. There are a lot of technical details in how this works, but you have absolutely no control over how or when they work, or don't. If you have heard of 'server farms', this is where they function, although not all Web pages reside on server farms. A web page can reside on the internet anywhere a server exists, including your own computer or laptop. When you sign on to the internet through your ISP, your computer becomes part of the internet as long as you stay signed on. Other computers can probe your computer, or ask it for information, or send information to it unless you have taken action to prevent their free access to your computer. This is why 'permanent' connections such as cable and DSL need firewalls to prevent intruders. Since dial up users tie up their phone lines they tend to stay online for short periods that typically do not expose them to the same intruder risks. However dial up usage is subject to all online risks. It is recommend that everyone use at least a software firewall. There are several good ones available and some are free to individual (home) users. Also a good anti-virus program (not free these days) is also highly recommended for active users. All the connections mentioned up to now occur one of two ways: either wired such as phone line or cable, or via fiber optic. Wi-Fi is the current means of cutting the umbilical cord between the internet and computers. Wi-Fi is a radio link for data to travel between digital devices. For us, Wi-Fi is used between the internet modem/router and our computer. In effect, Wi-Fi waves a magic wand and does away with the wire between the two. When the information is put on a radio wave that info knows goes throughout an area in roughly a radius of a couple of hundred feet maximum. The transmitters used are very low power and most antennas are low gain as well. It works from the user's viewpoint very much like a wireless home phone for a computer. When wireless phones came on the market a couple of decades ago a problem quickly arose where someone down the street could use your phone line to make long distance calls. The wireless phone industry quickly (within a couple of years) adopted various security methods for dealing with this problem. When cell phones came along, they used a stronger method called encryption. Without the details, encryption provides a level of intrusion protection using the methods governments use to protect secret messages. Today this is built into many of the types of equipment that uses radio linkages. Since we cannot control who can intercept a radio message, encryption is used to obscure the message in a way that makes it difficult to recover the original meaning without knowing the method and passwords required. However, equipment manufacturers give you a voice in the matter. Most internet connection equipment comes with a choice of encryption methods, usually all turned off initially so that the initial access for setup is simple and quick. Once installed and working, the user is expected to activate the type of encryption needed (it comes in varying strengths) and generate the passwords needed. The process of turning it on is described in your manual. Pay close attention to following the recommended process and writing down the passwords used. When encryption is not used, your home Wi-Fi is open to anyone within range of the signal who wants to use it. Anyone who can gain access now has direct access to the computers on your Wi-Fi network as well. Setting up encryption on your home network is not hard, but it is a bit tedious and needs to be done painstakingly. If done carefully, you will find it easy. When your computer is Wi-Fi enabled by either a PC Card or built-in capability you can connect with nearly any Wi-Fi access point or computer. It doesn't matter where the Wi-Fi connection is located as long as it is in radio range of your computer, usually a couple of hundred feet from the connection. If the Wi-Fi connection uses no encryption it is said to be 'open' or available for public use. Open 'public' access points are often referred to as hotspots . Theses hotspots are the easiest to connect to. The other possibility is an encrypted signal. You need the password to connect with your computer. To protect yourself in these scenarios, the following is a great start that will cover nearly all cases: 1. Get a third party email tool to replace Outlook. Thunderbird from www.mozilla.org is free and works very well to protect you from intrusion and misuse of your email. 2. Get a browser that protects you from operating system defects and hazards on Web pages Firefox from www.mozilla.org also and is free as well. No software is perfect, but some offerings go to greater lengths to protect users from unsuspected hazards. 3. Get a 3rd party software firewall for the computer you travel with, if not all computers you may have. A suggestion here is Zone Alarm from www.zonelabs.com. This one is free to non-commercial users also, but you will need to read past the various upgrades that are not free. You may need slight assistance setting up, but any kid who can use a computer should be able to help here. 4. Be certain you use an up to date anti-virus program. There are many useful ones out there and most work about the same as long as they are keep up to date. When you first start to use a firewall it will annoy you with requests for access to the internet by various software packages, most of which you may not recognize. This is merely temporary and will pass as your commonly used programs are given your approval for permanent access. For a more complete primer on internet access specifically for RVers you might want to read The RVer's Guide to Internet Access. --< Back to Articles Index >-- |
