In article ,
John McCoy wrote:


Rich Andrews wrote in
. 3.44:

JD, When it comes to ISP desginations, either you use an ISP or you are
an ISP. You cannot connect to the net unless you are one or the other.

This is not correct.

Actually, it *IS* very nearly correct.

There are many people who have connections
that do not go thru an ISP (for starters, most .edu and .mil
users have a connection to the backbone which does not go thru
an ISP).

It depends on how you define an ISP. There are people who sell
'transit' services only, sometimes called an IAP (Internet _ACCESS_
Provider), to differentiate them from the 'full service" providers.

The term 'backbone' has been obsolete for years. *Nobody* has a connection
'to the backbone', anymore. Because there _ISN'T_ any 'backbone' anymore.
just a bunch of 'peering' agreements between the *big* commercial providers
(MCI, Sprint, GTE, LEVEL3, BBN, etc.). The 'federally funded'(originally
DOD ARPA, and later the NSF) backbone was TURNED OFF in the mid-to-late
1990s. 1997, I think it was.

The '.mil', along with '.gov' now *buys* 'internet access' from several
commercial providers -- Sprint, and BBN being the primary ones.

Same for *every* .edu. Frequently they belong to a 'regional' consortium,
and the consortium is the one who 'buys' access -- usually directly from
one of the 'big' commercial providers mentioned above.

In the modern world, things are classified as to whether they 'buy access'
from "somebody else", vs. having connections with "other providers" that they
do -not- pay that provider for. A provider who does -not- pay anybody else
to carry their traffic is known, in today's world, as a "Tier 1" provider.
ANY 'Tier 1' provider is the equal of any _other_ 'tier 1' provider. Pro-
viders that 'buy access' from a 'tier 1' provider, are known as 'tier 2'
providers. Those that buy access from a 'tier 2' provider, are 'tier 3'
providers. Etc., etc., ad nauseum. "End user" networks can buy access
from a provider at any 'tier'. Tier 1 providers are more expensive than
tier 2, which are more expensive than tier 3, and so on.


Some folk will also argue that AOL is not, strictly,
an ISP.

AOL does provide basic internet access services, and thus _does_ qualify
as an ISP. AOL is -not- "just an ISP", as they offer a lot of additional,
or 'value-added', services as well.

AOL, incidentally, is a 'tier 2' provider. They 'buy connectivity' from
Sprint, MCI, and other sources.