How do I build my own independent internet connection?

[VetTechJess]

How do I build my own independent internet connection so that I don't have to pay ongoing monthly payments to another isp or internet backbone provider? I have been chatting with Jack Unger, the author of deploying license free wireless wide area networks. He says it would be difficult to do, but he also said it would not be impossible to do.

I have a father who has a masters degree in physics and a couple cousins who are into computer and electrical engineering, so I can handle difficult.

Theres two different scenarios in the following diagram. One scenario goes thru a third party isp or internet backbone provider. the other is a straight shot no middle man to go thru.

Here is a diagram of scenario 1. (aka the scenario I don't want....)

Your typical network-----------"independent" ISP-------Third party backbone provider-------THE INTERNET
----------------------------------------------------------------

Here is a diagram of Scenario 2 (aka what I DO want):

my extensive network------------------------THE INTERNET

----------------------------------- = the actual connection to the internet (wireless in scenario 2, wired in scenario 1)


I don't want to have to pay a monthly ongoing fee to some other company in order to "borrow" some of their internet connection. I want my own independent internet connection so that I will not have to lease lines from anybody or pay any what I like to call monthly homage fees. in that scenario if I didn't pay my monthly fees, my internet connection would then be terminated.

However if I had built my own independent internet connection from scratch, I wouldn't have to worry about paying any monthly fees. The only thing I would have to "worry" about is the maintenance that would be required, and I could handle that. If properly taken care of you shouldn't have much problems with maintenance. Especially if you are doing what I want to do in my scenario, which is to connect my own internet connection to a mesh network I also create using the Meraki Outdoor series. (meraki.com)

the reason I say this is possible is because all the big name companies such as verizon and at&t somehow made their own independent internet connection, so why can't I? After all, my exposure to now 24 years of exposure to physics and the like, I am sure to know that there has to be SOME way!!!

please don't say its impossible, because its not impossible, its just difficult to attain, which means it is attainable, but difficult to do so. So with that in mind, does anyone know what is required step by step in order to accomplish this goal?

[Brutha]

the reason I say this is possible is because all the big name companies such as verizon and at&t somehow made their own independent internet connection, so why can't I?

They aren't independent. They pay each other for the amount of traffic that they let through (or try to give each other the same amount, so that the balance is zero).

There is no "the internet". A packet has simply to travel through multiple third party companys. It's like:

Your typical network-----------"independent" ISP-------Third party backbone provider-------other third party provider ---- other third party provider----the ISP of the internet side in question----the server on which the site is hosted

[tobyhede]

It's not impossible but it's like saying I don't want to pay for Cable TV, I am going to make my own Cable TV channel. Or I don't want to pay for my mobile connection so I will create my own mobile network.

[1000feet]

The closest thing to "the internet" is the exchanges between the major providers - they send data back and forth to each other to connect all their customers. If they do it for free it's only because massive amounts of data go in both directions. So to connect directly to the backbone you can either pay a lot or add hundreds of thousands (actually, probably millions) of users through your connection. Plus you need to have the hardware to actually handle all that data. There's really no way to "get" without giving - any author who contests that is welcome to let me get their book without giving them anything as it might be somewhat amusing.

To try to paint a clearer picture, if you imagine a pyramid with the ordinary users at the bottom, the backbone providers in between, and the internet at the top... there is no top. Instead of going up to the top and back down to another part of the internet the companies in the middle layer just connect to each other directly. The top is completely imaginary - a simplified idea of the complex interconnections between providers - and since it doesn't physically exist you can't connect to it.

Alternately, you can create your own internet by connecting a bunch of computers to each other. Then you're the only one responsible for getting people hooked up to it.

[Shqiptare]

I wish to learn how to set up my own internet service

and would anyone be able to help me out???

i am currently studying I.T. at my schooll

and i like this subject very much

i have networked my computer with my friends computer

and now we play games against eachother throught that..

can soemone please explain on where i should start??

[andrew]

It's way more technical than you guys think, I took Cisco networking in highschool for 3 years. It's not a walk in the park at ALL. You may want to start there though, getting your CCNA. It's a lot more ambitious than you think.

Routers, switches, IP protocols, DNS, network topographies, I can't even think anymore, it's been so long, but if you don't understand these now, you've got a lot of work ahead of you. It's not just like there's a big box that's the internet and you can plug into, it's fairly decentralized. I'm not even going to get into it, but the amount of work and money required will be a lot more than ever just paying monthly fees for the rest of your life.

[CeciL]

1000feet pretty much nailed it. You'll need a boat load of money, a boat load of high paid workers and some "connections" with people in the industry. If you want free internet build yourself a waveguide and find a good open wireless signal, lol.

It takes a good while to wrap your head around how the internet REALLY works.

A bit off topic but a SUPER investment would be in RFID tags. In the next couple years EVERYTHING will have one embedded, even your under ware.

[Shqiptare]

o ok, well im only 14

and just thought of it

im starting I.T. soon and one of my cuzns has sucessfully managed to make his own T1 internet connection

hopefully i can do the same

if u wouldnt mind telling me

how much do u think it might cost to get all the cords and box's

and stuff

[Shqiptare]

and thanks for telling me about this so i know what i have to study aboutt

[aussieNickuss]

CeciL has a point......the only way to get an internet connection for "free" (nothing is free though), is my jacking someone elses wifi.

If on the other hand you have bucket loads of money, even more experience and technical knowledge, then it might be plausible, but for any Joe Bloggs, it is not possible.

one of my cuzns has sucessfully managed to make his own T1 internet connection

He would have had to connect to a service providor at some point, so he didn't really create his own internet connection.

[Shqiptare]

o i c,

so in other words, i should just forget about making my own net connection,

but now i have another question,

last night i went to bed with 70% of my usage gone

this morning i wake up and it says i have had 7gb of downloads done OVERNIGHT!!!

would u be able to tell me how to put more security on, or stop people latching in on my connection.

and i am running WiFi connection

[aussieNickuss]

Originally Posted by Shqiptare

o i c,

so in other words, i should just forget about making my own net connection,

but now i have another question,

last night i went to bed with 70% of my usage gone

this morning i wake up and it says i have had 7gb of downloads done OVERNIGHT!!!

would u be able to tell me how to put more security on, or stop people latching in on my connection.

and i am running WiFi connection

What brand of wifi base station do you have (D-Link, NetGear etc...)? It should have came with a manual with instructions for adding security to your wi-fi, if not, click onto the manufacturers website and see if you can download the manual or a guide from there. Alternatively, just google your base station make and model for tutorials on setting up encryption.

There are a couple of encryption protocols that you can use, but the most secure is WPA. Hopefully your wifi supports that, otherwise it would at least support WEP.

These make it so that you have to enter a password to connect the computer to your network and encrypts any data that that transfers between the two. If you don't have a password on your wifi at the moment, than anybody in range (30-50 or so metres), can just hook on and use your internet.

[Shqiptare]

i ave jst put on WEP

hopefulyl that is goood

thanks aswell

[fourthdan]

WEP is the basic security setting. It's extremely easy to hack, even if you're a novice hacker and it takes 10 minutes.

I would go for WPA instead of WEP, and under it the option of WPA-PSK (PSK = pre-shared key) It's a lot harder to crack.

On the main topic, CCNA is just the start. I got my CCNA 6 years ago and am now working on my CCIE (it's two levels above CCNA) and the cert is so difficult that only about 20,000 people have ever passed it (and only 12,000 currently retain it) These are the kind of guys who normally build the peices that make up the internet, who've mastered technologies like BGP, MPLS and other WAN connections.
But every journey begins with a single step. Best of luck

[Geovani]

Originally Posted by fourthdan

I would go for WPA instead of WEP, and under it the option of WPA-PSK (PSK = pre-shared key) It's a lot harder to crack.

I'll add some to this (for someone reading it now, since the thead is old): if the router and the clients — e.g., laptops and tablets — support it, it's better to use WPA2-PSK with AES (not TKIP), which is much more secure than plain old WPA or WEP, and use the longest and strongest passphrase possible (63 completely random characters, with no patterns), one impossible to break within a reasonable time frame with a dictionary attack. It's preferable to create such passphrase using a secure WPA key generator; doing it by hand is never as good, because of human limitations when it comes to randomization (search for the "GRC's Ultra High Security Password Generator" website, it's a very good tool for this job.) It's also a good idea to disable SSID Broadcast in the router settings, and use a customized SSID, that is, one other than the default, so that is much harder for someone else to find it and sniff packets.

Configuring the clients to use this connection for the first time after doing all of these will be a little harder, but if someone wants maximum security while the wireless is on (to prevent others from leeching it and from sniffing the packets being transmitted), it's worth it.

[Neobian]

China is developing its own internal "internet" for years now, many external sites are banned and many internal sites are not available for outside world. In due course, they will virtually have every kind of website we have today and they may eventually shut down the outside network to its people with only business oriented connections alive.

Correct me if i am wrong ..

[Internet]

I understand the persons request, and still awaiting details. People, our society and the internet did not come easy. So hard work is not an issue. Money may not even be an issue. Just provide the details, if you know. Otherwise this thread is not worth much of anything but a few people knowing a few broad general things. How do you connect to the backbone. If the person has the servers, redundancy, all the techs in the world, and wants to run his own 100 multi fiber to the backbone, where would this take place. In the begining it was a couple guys garage. Where is that connection now? All the computers are connected to routers/gateways that connect to ISP's - holder's of the theoeretical digital highways - how do these digital highways connect to the interstate highway? Where do we connect our fiber into that allows us to connect to the rest of the world? That is the key question? Does anyone know that? Thanks so much for your assistance.

[Brutha]

All the computers are connected to routers/gateways that connect to ISP's - holder's of the theoeretical digital highways - how do these digital highways connect to the interstate highway?

The ISP's are the interstate highway.
They connect to each other. They have contracts with each other about transfering data.

[Internet]

Thanks Brutha,

Ok, if Burtha is correct, then VetTechjess, it is simple. You either contact one of the ISP's and negotiate a contract to allow you to connect to their system, or you build your own. You will need more than a lot of money, and will only have access to those that allow you to connect to them. If someone on the backbone allows you to connect, then your in. Too much detail for me to write at this point. But if you have truck loads of money, and have the energy and time to do this, let us know and will put something a bit more detailed together for you. Take care,