The real rate of pricing connectivity to the Internet using a telephone modem has decreased over the last decade. Now users have unlimited access to the Internet and there is no time constraint on their usage. Telephone voice networks have been referred to as circuit switching technology and although the Internet uses the voice network as a mode of communication, the Internet sends and receives information in a technically different method. Circuit switching technology uses a dedicated path between two callers on the phone. The lines resources are exclusively used by the individuals directly communicating and remain open until the connection is terminated.
Many users simultaneously share circuits and no single connection is left open for one user.
A data stream is sent from a computer and has a specific IP address specified to it. This allows routers to recognize where the information came from and how to break down the data into packets so it can be transmitted efficiently on its way to its destination. The TCP protocol breaks the data into the packet and then reassembles them at the other end. Each packet of information is assembled by the TCP protocol and has a header attached to it by the IP address. This allows the routers to calculate the most efficient direction in which the data will traverse across hubs and on its path to its destination.