Editing Internet service provider (section)

===Access providers===
{{anchor|Access ISP'S}} <!-- old section name (renamed 30 November 2011) -->
Access provider ISPs provide Internet access directly to end customers such as businesses and consumers, employing a range of technologies to connect users to their network.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-vista/what-are-the-different-internet-connection-methods|title=What are the different Internet connection methods? |website=Windows |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091013060645/http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-vista/what-are-the-different-internet-connection-methods|archive-date=October 13, 2009}}</ref> Available technologies have ranged from computer modems with [[acoustic coupler]]s to telephone lines, to television cable (CATV), [[Wi-Fi]], and fiber optics.

For users and small businesses, traditional options include copper wires to provide [[dial-up]], DSL, typically [[asymmetric digital subscriber line]] (ADSL), cable modem or [[Integrated Services Digital Network]] (ISDN) (typically [[basic rate interface]]). Using [[Fiber-optic communication|fiber-optic]]s to end users is called [[Fiber to the x|Fiber To The Home]] or similar names.<ref>{{cite web |title=FTTx: Fiber To The Home/Premises/Curb |url=http://www.thefoa.org/FTTX/ |publisher=[[The Fiber Optic Association]] |access-date=June 1, 2013 |archive-date=August 24, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130824130815/http://www.thefoa.org/FTTX/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Customers with more demanding requirements (such as medium-to-large businesses, or other ISPs) can use higher-speed DSL (such as [[single-pair high-speed digital subscriber line]]), [[Ethernet]], [[metropolitan Ethernet]], [[gigabit Ethernet]], [[Frame Relay]], ISDN [[Primary Rate Interface]], [[Asynchronous Transfer Mode]] (ATM), [[synchronous optical networking]] (SONET)<ref>{{cite web|url= http://ciscoccna24.blogspot.com/2010/10/tdm-examples-isdn-and-sonet.html|title= CCNA|work= ciscoccna24.blogspot.com|access-date= 2 February 2015|archive-date= 25 December 2014|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20141225005957/http://ciscoccna24.blogspot.com/2010/10/tdm-examples-isdn-and-sonet.html|url-status= dead}}</ref>  or MPLS over OTN.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://networkworld.com/article/741048/why-does-mpls-cost-so-much-more-than-internet-connectivity.html/amp/ | title=Why does MPLS cost so much more than Internet connectivity? }}</ref><ref>{{cite book | chapter-url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-04968-2_17 | doi=10.1007/978-3-642-04968-2_17 | chapter=A Network Optimization Model for Multi-layer IP/MPLS over OTN/DWDM Networks | title=IP Operations and Management | series=Lecture Notes in Computer Science | date=2009 | last1=Katib | first1=Iyad | last2=Medhi | first2=Deep | volume=5843 | pages=180–185 | isbn=978-3-642-04967-5 }}</ref> Dedicated internet access (DIA) services for businesses can be delivered using PON networks.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2025/05/its-technology-claims-first-live-uk-biz-customer-trial-of-50gbps-pon.html | title=ITS Technology Claims First Live UK Biz Customer Trial of 50Gbps PON }}</ref>

[[Wireless broadband|Wireless access]] is another option, including [[cellular network|cellular]] and [[satellite Internet access]]. Access providers may have an MPLS ([[Multiprotocol label switching]]) or formerly a SONET [[backbone network]], and have a ring<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2021/11/cityfibre-launch-first-800gbps-backbone-ring-to-serve-uk-cities.html|title=CityFibre Launch First 800Gbps Backbone Ring to Serve UK Cities|first=Mark|last=Jackson|date=November 24, 2021|website=ISPreview UK}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://openaccess.uoc.edu/bitstream/10609/18805/6/amerinoraTFC0113memoria.pdf|title=IMPLEMENTACIÓN DE DOCSIS 3.0 SOBRE REDES HFC|first=Ángel Merino|last=Ramos|publisher=Universitat Oberta de Catalunya}}</ref> or mesh<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cisco.com/c/dam/m/en_us/network-intelligence/service-provider/digital-transformation/pdfs/verizon-tdm-to-ip-network-modernization.pdf|title=Network Modernization: A TDM to IP Solution|author=Sterling Perrin}}</ref> network topology in their core network.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z5f4BQAAQBAJ&dq=mpls+backbone&pg=PA184 | isbn=978-0-13-396586-5 | title=Implementing Cisco IP Routing (ROUTE) Foundation Learning Guide: (CCNP ROUTE 300-101) | date=29 December 2014 | publisher=Cisco Press }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | title=VNF Availability and SFC Sizing Model for Service Provider Networks  | doi=10.1109/ACCESS.2020.3005287 | date=2020 | last1=Sharma | first1=Sidharth | last2=Engelmann | first2=Anna | last3=Jukan | first3=Admela | last4=Gumaste | first4=Ashwin | journal=IEEE Access | volume=8 | pages=119768–119784 | doi-access=free | bibcode=2020IEEEA...8k9768S }}</ref> The networks run by access providers can be considered [[wide area networks]].<ref name="ciscopress.com">{{cite web | url=https://www.ciscopress.com/articles/article.asp?p=2832405&seqNum=5 | title=Selecting a WAN Technology (1.2) > WAN Concepts &#124; Cisco Press }}</ref> ISPs can have [[access network]]s, aggregation networks/aggregation layers/distribution layers/edge routers/metro networks and a [[core network]]/backbone network; each subsequent network handles more traffic than the last.<ref>{{cite book | chapter-url=https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/6702549 | title=2013 IEEE SDN for Future Networks and Services (SDN4FNS) | doi=10.1109/SDN4FNS.2013.6702549 | arxiv=1312.5080 | s2cid=9770534 | chapter=Research Directions in Network Service Chaining | date=2013 | last1=John | first1=Wolfgang | last2=Pentikousis | first2=Konstantinos | last3=Agapiou | first3=George | last4=Jacob | first4=Eduardo | last5=Kind | first5=Mario | last6=Manzalini | first6=Antonio | last7=Risso | first7=Fulvio | last8=Staessens | first8=Dimitri | last9=Steinert | first9=Rebecca | last10=Meirosu | first10=Catalin | pages=1–7 | isbn=978-1-4799-2781-4 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dRhHPINWo2AC&dq=aggregation+network+core+network&pg=PA86 | isbn=978-2-7445-0144-9 | title=Networks: Internet, Telephony, Multimedia : Convergences and Complementarities | date=2002 | publisher=Springer }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cse.wustl.edu/~jain/cse570-13/ftp/broadba/index.html|title=Survey of Next-Generation Broadband Aggregation Networks|author=Belinda Chang}}</ref><ref name="Network Design Models">{{cite web | url=https://www.ciscopress.com/articles/article.asp?p=2698000 | title=Network Design Models > "Do I Know This Already?" Quiz &#124; Cisco Press }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | url=https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11235-021-00841-7 | doi=10.1007/s11235-021-00841-7 | title=Intra and inter-flow link aggregation in SDN | date=2022 | last1=Junior | first1=Ronaldo R. R. | last2=Vieira | first2=Marcos A. M. | last3=Vieira | first3=Luiz F. M. | last4=Loureiro | first4=Antonio A. F. | journal=Telecommunication Systems | volume=79 | pages=95–107 | s2cid=239542317 | url-access=subscription }}</ref> Mobile service providers also have similar networks.<ref>{{cite journal | url=https://opg.optica.org/jocn/abstract.cfm?uri=jocn-9-9-D19 | doi=10.1364/JOCN.9.000D19 | title=Matheuristic with Machine-Learning-Based Prediction for Software-Defined Mobile Metro-Core Networks | date=2017 | last1=Alvizu | first1=Rodolfo | last2=Troia | first2=Sebastian | last3=Maier | first3=Guido | last4=Pattavina | first4=Achille | journal=[[Journal of Optical Communications and Networking]] | volume=9 | issue=9 | pages=D19 | hdl=11311/1046162 | hdl-access=free }}</ref> These providers often buy capacity on submarine cables to connect to internet exchanges and engage in private peering with other carriers and networks including Tier 1 carriers at data centers, for example by connecting to the [[NAP of the Americas]], a data center which connects many Latin American ISPs with networks in the US.<ref name="auto">{{cite web | url=https://www.datacenterknowledge.com/networking/equinix-expands-miami-data-center-that-s-key-to-latin-american-connectivity | title=Equinix Expands Miami Data Center Key to Latin American Connectivity }}</ref>