Hill Farming

Internet Service Providers pay upstream Internet Service Providers for Internet access. The upstream ISPs have the benefit of a larger network than the contracting ISP and can offer the contracting ISP access to the Internet that the contracting ISP would never be able to achieve alone. The most basic case is when a single connection is created to an upstream ISP which is then utilized to transmit data towards or from regions of the Internet that are beyond the home network.

Understandably, Internet service providers must pay the upstream Internet Service Providers for Internet access. Think of it as a mass of small Internet service providers below a few big upstream Internet Service Providers who they pay to be able to access what the big ones can access. I hope that makes sense. It is a way of seeing it that works for me as it enables me to understand the system rather well. This is seeing it in an incredibly simplistic fashion however, as some Internet Service Providers have more than one individual point of presence, some have multiple!