I just recently found out that routers connect you to the internet, but then I found out that ISPs also connect you do the internet. Can someone explain to me what really happens behind the scenes? Why do we need ISPs if our routers can connect to the internet by themselves?
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Computer networking boils down to sending and receiving information from one computer to another.
Now think of this like a delivery problem. Imagine you need to deliver something (the information) with your car from your house (your computer) to somewhere else (another computer). To oversimplify, your driveway is the router/modem, the street you live on is a small part of your ISP. Both of them together connect you to a much more sophisticated road network which is the internet.
If you have an ISP but no router/modem, then you have a house that is isolated by itself with no road access. If you have a router/modem but no ISP, then you have a driveway that isn’t connected to any road, ie it’s useless pavement. You need both of them to access the bigger network.
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