I have just signed up for a Charter High Speed internet connection but have a free Yahoo mail account...what do I do now?

Understanding how the Internet works is a real challenge. The Internet speaks several hundred languages known as Protocols. These protocols are used to transmit data (information) between computers. The important thing to know about the various protocols is whether or not you have the necessary program to accomplish the task at hand such as connecting to the Internet, surfing the Web, and sending and reading email.

One of the most important protocols is TCP/IP, which is an abbreviation for Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol. This is a suite of communications protocols used to connect the computer to your Internet Service Provider's (ISP) servers (our example is Charter Communications). The home computer will need a device much like your telephone to initiate the connection to the Internet. Some examples are phone modem, cable modem, DSL (digital subscriber line) modem and ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) modem. The phone, DSL and ISDN modems use the telephone lines while the cable modem uses cable lines. The main difference between each of these connection devices is speed with the phone modem being the slowest and the cable modem being the fastest. There is software that is provided with the various types of modems that complete the package. You will need a contract with an Internet Service Provider such as Charter who can connect you to Internet through their local Point of Presence, which is their front door to the Internet.

Okay, now that you have your Internet Service Provider, which in our example is Charter, and a device hooked up to your computer, what next? Surfs Up—you will need a piece of software known as a Web browser such as Microsoft Internet Explorer or Netscape. The next protocol is HTTP that stands for HyperText Transfer Protocol used on the World Wide Web or Web for short. This protocol talks "Web" between your computer and remote websites, such as eBay. There is another language working with your Web browser that covers how Web pages are formatted and displayed. It is HTML (HyperText Markup Language).

Now you have an Internet Service Provider (Charter), a device (cable modem), a Web browser (Microsoft Internet Explorer), what next? Reading and sending email, of course! You will need an email application known as an email client such as Microsoft Outlook Express or Outlook. There are two sides to email-outgoing email that uses SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) and incoming email commonly using POP (Post Office Protocol).

A number of Internet Service Providers such as MSN and AOL have tried to simplify this process by combining the communications software, Web browser and email client into one package. All you will need is a modem device that works in your area and bam!...you are surfing and emailing all over the world.

The following diagram is a simplification of the various protocols found on the Internet.

In answer to the opening question, connecting to the Internet through Charter makes them your Internet Service Provider or ISP. This is your front door to the Internet. Charter does offer its own e-mail accounts; however, you may have setup a free e-mail account with Yahoo prior to getting your Charter High speed connection. In this example your ISP is Charter and you have the option of using either or both e-mail accounts; one with Charter.net and the second with Yahoo.com.

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