Can we create a connection to the internet ourselves without having to use a cellular 3g/4g subscription / wifi subscription?
In: Technology
There’s already millions of computers connected to the internet without using 3g/4g cellular, or wifi. You can simply pull a network cable from your router to a PC, and you’ve got access.
Now that that’s out of the way, yes, you can connect to the internet without paying a subscription plan by founding your own “Internet Service Provider”, just like the many existing ISPs across the world. This is usually way more expensive just in material costs than to pay a regular ISP for access, and then you also have to perform all the maintenance your network infrastructure requires.
If you’re asking if you can create your own internet completely independent of the rest of the internet, the answer for this is also yes. You can conceivably design a network consisting of thousands of computers, including both servers and clients, and have them function in the same way as the internet. This is largely how corporate intranets work. Tons of “web” sites that are only accessible by computers within the corporation, not by users of the general internet.
However, there’s little reason to do this for an individual other than as a training exercise. What makes the internet actually interesting to use is the network effect it causes. You want to use the Internet because everyone else also uses the Internet. Almost no one would use the Goodlifesgoodnet because almost no one elses uses it.
The short answer is no, you can interconnect any number of computers together you own and control, that would be called an ‘intranet’. You could connect to your friend’s network and then that would be more *like* an internet.
When we talk about ‘the internet’, we are talking about the mixture of agreed upon protocols (BGP, DNS) which all people agree to use fairly and a physical connection to other networks under the same agreement which is controlled by a number of international NGOs.
For example, you could wire a parallel ‘internet’, set up a root DNS system, and set up your own BGP AS numbers. Hell, we do it in labs all the time, it isn’t that hard. But, the minute you wanted to connect to the wider internet, you come under the control of the before mentioned NGOs. When you do want to connect to the wider internet, almost all of the time you will connect through a tier(whatever) provider, so an ATT, Verizon, CenturyLink, Comcast, in the USA. In Germany it would be Deutsche Telekom or someone.
Get an on off switch. Two lanes of communication choose a medium. A set of standards and protocols. Some packet layering and protocols to help with loss. Easy peasy. Or just vote and advocate for the end of ISP network monopolies. And vote for and advocate for expanding existing networks to areas that do not have internet access. Or invest in starlink.
There are several different questions you could be asking. I’ll try to answer all of them.
– *Can I connect to the Internet without paying somebody a monthly fee?*
No.
– *Can I connect to the Internet without using a radio?*
Yes, but you’ll still have to pay an ISP every month.
If you don’t want to use a 3g / 4g / 5g cellular connection, you can get Internet from a cable or DSL provider in most places. You still have to pay for this subscription.
If you don’t want to use Wifi, you can connect your device to your router with an [Ethernet cable](https://www.newegg.com/p/N82E16812119992?Item=N82E16812119992) instead.
Most desktop PC’s and many laptops have built-in Ethernet connectors. You’ll need an Ethernet adapter for your phone, tablet, etc.
– *Can my friends and I create our own network?*
Yes.
You don’t have to pay anyone a monthly subscription to connect computers together. (You still have to pay for parts and electricity, of course.)
You can connect multiple computers together using Ethernet cables to connect them to a switch or router. You may need to make some simple changes to the OS or router’s networking settings.
You can even get rid of the cables if you use a Wifi router.
The catch is that the computers have to be physically connected with Ethernet cables, or within a few dozen feet of a Wifi router.
So for example, if you wanted to visit your friend’s website, you’d need to have your friend physically bring a computer over to your house. Your friend would need to run their webserver software on that computer. You could visit the website running on the computer in your house.
There’s a lot of different server software these days. So you can create a network with websites, chat, downloads, and so on. All running on computers in your house.
There would be no possibility of connecting to Reddit, Google, Facebook, and so on. Because those websites are running on computers you’re not connected to, outside your house.
If you wanted to connect your network to computers in different houses, you’d have to physically connect a wire between the houses. This might be feasible to do with your next-door neighbor if you’re willing to spend a couple days digging a ditch, putting the cable in it, and figuring out how to safely drill a hole in the wall to get the cable inside each house.
If you’re talking about multiple friends in different locations, you’d have to get a bunch of government permits and pay millions of dollars to run a miles-long cable through a bunch of different properties you don’t own.
[Here](https://www.allconnect.com/blog/can-you-become-your-own-isp) are a [couple](https://startyourownisp.com/) introductory sources on the matter. In short, yes, you can make your own ISP. WISPs are common due to necessity, but it’s not the only way, provided you get legal rights to lay cable, or you buy already existing dark fiber. Your area may already have an ISP with what is essentially a legal monopoly, in order to “recoup” the costs of deploying what they argue is an essential public service, which they also have complete control over… [Here](https://blog.thelifeofkenneth.com/2017/11/creating-autonomous-system-for-fun-and.html) is a blog from a guy who did it just for fun, but his is a different kind of ISP.
>Can we create a connection to the internet ourselves without having to use a cellular 3g/4g subscription / wifi subscription?
Well, there is one other way to do this: Be an ISP. Run your own lines to nearby homes and businesses, and gather enough money that you can negotiate with one of the companies that run the internet (called Tier 1 ISPs) to sell your new company a direct hookup to their own network. Then you can charge your customers a monthly rate for your service.
You could setup a network of packet radio modems/computers via shortwave radio.
Or
You could setup a mesh network of XBee Pros connected to computers that have up to a two mile range each outdoors.
You can, it will just be extremely, extremely, extremely, expensive.
You’d have to setup all the hardware and contract all the private lines to a big colocation house.
So yes. It’s technically possible. It is just prohibitively expensive.
Yes. The internet is “just” a bunch of protocols used to commuicate between computers. In Germany there’s [Freifunk](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freifunk), in NYC there’s [NYC Mesh](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NYC_Mesh). The idea is using WiFi (and in Germany partially microwave links) to create a decentralized network independent of ISPs.
You can do this at home. Unplug the internet connection to your router. Now all of the devices on your network can only talk to each other. You now have a very boring internet. Enjoy communicating with your printer.
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