What do I need an ISP for?

I may be having a really dumb day, but I just got off the phone with my current ISP, who want to more than DOUBLE what I'm paying.

I'm NOT running a website any more. No Wordpress, no nothing.

I have several email addresses I use. That's it.

My domain isn't at my ISP. I get a SEPARATE bill every year for the domain.

So, when I'm sitting in front of the computer, and I open a browser, is the ISP DOING anything? If I open this forum, is the ISP somehow involved? What am I actually paying for?

ISP is your internet provider. If you access the internet or email then you’ll need a data connection to do this either from an ISP or Cellular Data.
The provider will charge a monthly fee for their service. I’m sure there are other providers which will be cheaper as an introductory offer - usually a 12-18 month contract. Your other option is to renegotiate the current ISP’s contract to see if they can offer the same service cheaper. If they can’t the cancel the contract, often they’ll call back after this to make a one-time offer to reduce the cost.
When you call to renegotiate be prepared with information on other ISP‘s offers, if you say X provider can offer the same speed or better the speed for less cost then that places you in a better position to deal.
Also be prepared to cancel & switch providers if needed.

GracieAllen said:

So, when I'm sitting in front of the computer, and I open a browser, is the ISP DOING anything? If I open this forum, is the ISP somehow involved? What am I actually paying for?

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You are paying for a connection to the internet.

What is an ISP?​

An ISP (internet service provider) is a company that provides individuals and organizations access to the internet and other related services. An ISP has the equipment and the telecommunication line access required to have a point of presence on the internet for the geographic area served.

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One thing you should remember is if you use the ISP's email system then you'll have to change to something like Gmail or similar. Take time to let your contacts know of email change including any financial sites such as Banking, Amazon etc. Once done you'll have no ties to any ISP. Check around for other offers and if you find a better deal contact your ISP and let them know that you're leaving for a better offer. If they don't give you an offer to stay then leave.

GracieAllen said:

So, when I'm sitting in front of the computer, and I open a browser, is the ISP DOING anything? If I open this forum, is the ISP somehow involved? What am I actually paying for?

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Yes, the ISP provides you a connection from your home computer to the Internet.

Without your ISP, you won't even be here. You are paying them for your internet service which is an essential service these days. It is what connects you to the entire world.
If you think you are paying too much, you can always find a cheaper ISP.

Thanks for the replies.......

Ignoring email. How does the ISP fit into the connection between my browser on my computer and the web site I connect to? My computer connects wirelessly to a router that's using T-Mobile. Is there something, somewhere that connects me, or T-Mobile, or something else THROUGH a server at the Inmotion Hosting to have this forum display in my browser?

Very simplified but I hope you get the gist of it.

You need an internet to access anything and everything on the web. And your ISP provides you with that internet service. T-Mobile is also an ISP. Without internet, you won't be able to post this thread of yours.

GracieAllen said:

How does the ISP fit into the connection between my browser on my computer and the web site I connect to? My computer connects wirelessly to a router that's using T-Mobile. Is there something, somewhere that connects me, or T-Mobile, or something else THROUGH a server at the Inmotion Hosting to have this forum display in my browser?

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Yes, in fact you are connecting through many steps (or routers) before you reach the web server for Eleven Forum. From the command line the command Tracert will list these steps. Here all the first steps I've highlighted in green are first my router and then within my ISP BT's infrastructure.

What is routing?​

Network routing is the process of selecting a path across one or more networks. The principles of routing can apply to any type of network, from telephone networks to public transportation. In packet-switching networks, such as the Internet, routing selects the paths for Internet Protocol (IP) packets to travel from their origin to their destination. These Internet routing decisions are made by specialized pieces of network hardware called routers.

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....and this is the First I've seen this.

ISP = Internet Service Provider

Depending on what company and the connection "DSL | Cable | Fiber" you can have fast speeds by watching YouTube *1080p, 4k" or Netflix to any other Streaming Service you hear about Note: DSL being the somewhat old but usable connection but can be the cheapest

Oh and Gaming as well IF that's your thing. And... there's satellite internet but that's costly

@GracieAllen


Who is your ISP? This may shed some light on your problems.

For example... the FFC is trying to force the ISPs to "list" what every penny you pay, is for.
Sort of like when they first forced food manufacturers to "list" all the ingredients, about 40 years ago.
Some of the larger ISPs, Comcast for one, are fighting to prevent this.

It would be to the ISPs advantage to gather as much money from their customers as they can, before this ruling takes effect.

The current ISP is Inmotion Hosting. BUT, my domain is NOT with them. I get a separate bill every year for the domain from somewhere like fastdomain.com (or something similar).

From the diagram earlier, it APPEARS that when I put in "elevenforum.com" on my browser, from MY computer in front of me, it goes wirelessly to the router in the next room, the router goes to some T-Mobile tower, it then SOMEHOW goes through an Inmotion Hosting server before it connects me to elevenforum.com? Somewhere, something told the T-Mobile tower/network that this browser request to view elevenforum.com needs to go to something at Inmotion Hosting to display the information on the browser on my computer? So there's NO good way to DUMP the ISP and just use gmail for email, and chrome or firefox or whatever to browse the web?

GracieAllen said:

The current ISP is Inmotion Hosting. BUT, my domain is NOT with them. I get a separate bill every year for the domain from somewhere like fastdomain.com (or something similar).

From the diagram earlier, it APPEARS that when I put in "elevenforum.com" on my browser, from MY computer in front of me, it goes wirelessly to the router in the next room, the router goes to some T-Mobile tower, it then SOMEHOW goes through an Inmotion Hosting server before it connects me to elevenforum.com? Somewhere, something told the T-Mobile tower/network that this browser request to view elevenforum.com needs to go to something at Inmotion Hosting to display the information on the browser on my computer? So there's NO good way to DUMP the ISP and just use gmail for email, and chrome or firefox or whatever to browse the web?

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I don't think Inmotion Hosting is an ISP. It seems they are just a domain hosting provider
An ISP would be someone like Comcast, Verizon... etc.
All an ISP does, is connect you to the internet.





Like in @OAT s picture above... the ISP just connects you to different websites.
The ISP has a list of all the addresses of the various websites on the internet.
When you type, say... www.google.com... the ISP reads what you typed and hooks you to google.com




Once you're connected to the internet... then the IP addresses... take you to different locations on the internet.
A Web Hosting provider is just another location ON the internet, like Youtube or ElevenForum.


Ofc, the internet is far more complex than my drawing. But when you boil it all down... the ISP just connects you to internet websites.

Inmotion is a Web hosting service. That means that you would have a web site which is hosted on their servers. Are you using that service?

They offer a "free" domain name as part of their service.

T-Mobile is your ISP. (I presume that you're using their fixed wireless service.)

At least one of us misunderstands what you're doing.

OK, I was confused before. Now I'm REALLY confused...... WHY am I giving Inmotion Hosting money? My email address is me@<mydomain>.com
and I had to "switch" the domain from the old service provider, where I USED TO HAVE a website, to Inmotion Hosting.

I've got a half dozen email addresses. They're ALL something@<mydomain>.com. Which domain is somehow at Inmotion Hosting.

If I called godaddy (or ANYBODY) and said I want to have my domain with you so my email addresses stay the same as they are now, they're going to charge me $3 (or some amount) per month. What else do I NEED them for?

@Ghot, I rented a cable modem from Comcast for 15 years before I discovered that I could own my own cable modem.

The rental cost of the cable modem was $10/month. Thats $10 * 12 * 15 = $1,800 USD I paid Comcast over a period of 15 years to rent their cable modem.

I bought my own much better cable modem for $100 and haven't paid cable modem rental since.

Comcast should be required to tell their customers that they can either rent or buy their own cable modem.

I don't have many good things to say about Comcast.

GracieAllen said:

OK, I was confused before. Now I'm REALLY confused...... WHY am I giving Inmotion Hosting money? My email address is me@<mydomain>.com
and I had to "switch" the domain from the old service provider, where I USED TO HAVE a website, to Inmotion Hosting.

I've got a half dozen email addresses. They're ALL something@<mydomain>.com. Which domain is somehow at Inmotion Hosting.

If I called godaddy (or ANYBODY) and said I want to have my domain with you so my email addresses stay the same as they are now, they're going to charge me $3 (or some amount) per month. What else do I NEED them for?

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You are giving inmotion money because you are still using their service by letting them host your email. But I am sure the email service comes free with their web hosting service. You have to give up your inmotion email addresses if you want stop paying them money.

You don't need to pay for email services. You can use Gmail or Outlook for free.

TraderGary said:

@Ghot, I rented a cable modem from Comcast for 15 years before I discovered that I could own my own cable modem.

The rental cost of the cable modem was $10/month. Thats $10 * 12 * 15 = $1,800 USD I paid Comcast over a period of 15 years to rent their cable modem.

I bought my own much better cable modem for $100 and haven't paid cable modem rental since.

Comcast should be required to tell their customers that they can either rent or buy their own cable modem.

I don't have many good things to say about Comcast.

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Yeah... Comcast is both the largest and the most money grubbing ISP in the US.
They also have the absolute lowest customer rating.

I foresee a future where Comcast is forced to divest. Like they did to AT&T back in the 80's.

GracieAllen said:

OK, I was confused before. Now I'm REALLY confused...... WHY am I giving Inmotion Hosting money? My email address is me@<mydomain>.com
and I had to "switch" the domain from the old service provider, where I USED TO HAVE a website, to Inmotion Hosting.

I've got a half dozen email addresses. They're ALL something@<mydomain>.com. Which domain is somehow at Inmotion Hosting.

If I called godaddy (or ANYBODY) and said I want to have my domain with you so my email addresses stay the same as they are now, they're going to charge me $3 (or some amount) per month. What else do I NEED them for?

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You can have any ISP in your area provide you with an internet connection. Shop around for the lowest prices.
Once you have that... then just make a gmail (or whatever) account for email (free).

Try this... just google: Internet service providers OR Internet service providers in my area
It will ask for your zip code.
Type that in, and you'll get a list of all the ISPs in your area that can provide you with internet access.

Here I did it for you... just put your zip code in here...




It sounds to me, like you started out with a smart phone, then got a computer?
If you live anywhere near a city... you should be able to get a decent ISP (Internet Service Provider), for fairly cheap.




Once you get the hang of it, you should be able to get high speed internet, TV and a landline home phone for about $150/month. This would include all the fictitious charges they add on.


And in the just kidding category...

Charges like...
Ethernet grease
Router lube
Wifi wax
TV high def polish
Streaming oil
Etc....