I used to think my phone talked to space 🐧

Before I joined network operations, I was pretty clueless.

I thought that when you use the internet on a phone or a computer, the phone shoots radio waves whoosh, all the way up into space, and that is how it communicates.

But usually, it is nothing like that. The radio my phone sends only reaches something called a base station, on a nearby utility pole or building.

From there on, it is all fiber. It is physically connected, with cable.

Even from Japan to Brazil or America, it is laid out like a power grid, and one way or another it is all connected.

The thing is, it is spread out messily like a cobweb, so you get lost in it like a maze.

What stops you getting lost is the router, and thanks to it you reach your destination properly.

Networks are physically connected. Once you know just that, this job gets a lot easier to understand.