How Devices Connect: Home Networks, Intranets and the Internet

0:00How do our devices connect to each other and to the Internet?

0:04At home, devices join together in a home network.

0:08At the centre of the home network is a router.

0:12The laptop and phone connect to the router by Wi-Fi, which uses radio waves.

0:17The computer plugs into the router with a cable.

0:21The router also links the home network to the Internet.

0:25The Internet is a network of networks that reaches around the world.

0:30When you open a website, the laptop sends data in small pieces called packets.

0:36The packets cross the Internet to a web server, the computer that stores the website.

0:42The web server sends the page back to the laptop in packets too.

0:47A school can also run its own intranet.

0:51An intranet works like a private Internet, just for the school.

0:56The school is on the Internet too, but only people with permission can use its intranet.

1:02Networks link our devices, and the Internet links networks around the world.