how internet works

[BananaBandit]

i assume many people in some middle-of-nowhere place, like samoa, use the internet. 

 

so does that mean there are wires connecting samoa to some major mainland countries?   

 

if yes, then i assume these wires are under water?   if so, about how deep?

 

let's pretend i'm a dictator in some developing banana republic. i don't want my people to have internet access and realize that i steal all their international aid money. can i just go to a particular power station or some such venue, unplug a cable or two and then bingo ... nobody in my country can get internet?

[RedBackman]

Yes, just look up submarine cables. Most of the world, including Samoa, primarily depends on these to reach any portion of the internet that's overseas. The other viable way for internet to cross the ocean is through satellite connections.

 

As far as a government shutting down internet for its citizens, that's also very possible. A Georgian woman accidentally cut an underground cable in 2011 and shut off internet for all of Armenia. Iran shut down internet for their country for a week in 2019. China's great firewall regularly restricts access to a ton of different sites and services...our current internet is pretty centralized so government censorship and control is a real threat pretty much everywhere.

[The Hammer2021]

Satellite Internet

[blackcab]

In theory you would need to visit all submarine cable landing stations in your country if you wanted to physically disconnect each cable. Most of the time these are gong to be anonymous unsigned buildings.

 

In reality many countries have software that can do the same thing.

[BigStar]

10 hours ago, The Hammer2021 said:

Satellite Internet

In Musk we trust.

[Photoguy21]

10 hours ago, The Hammer2021 said:

Satellite Internet

Very expensive. Far more expensive than a submarine cable

[patman30]

yes, they were laying these submarine fibre cables nearly 40 years ago
my teacher gave us a class on them as her husband was working laying them
 

[Stocky]

Submarine Cable Map

 

https://www.submarinecablemap.com/

[ballpoint]

For anyone interested, and having the time, this is an excellent article on the laying of the FLAG cable (Fibre-optic Link Around the Globe), a 28,000km long cable from the UK to Japan, laid in the 1990s.  While not up to date, it's still entertaining, educational and relevant.  It also includes a history of under-sea cables, which began with the Trans-Atlantic ones in the 19th century. There's even a section on Thailand, as it was one of two places where this cable crossed land - taking a short-cut to avoid having to go around Singapore.  The article is by Neal Stephenson, who also happens to be one of my favourite novelists.

 

Mother Earth Mother Board | WIRED

"In which the hacker tourist ventures forth across the wide and wondrous meatspace of three continents, acquainting himself with the customs and dialects of the exotic Manhole Villagers of Thailand, the U-Turn Tunnelers of the Nile Delta, the Cable Nomads of Lan tao Island, the Slack Control Wizards of Chelmsford, the Subterranean Ex-Telegraphers of Cornwall, and other previously unknown and unchronicled folk; also, biographical sketches of the two long-dead Supreme Ninja Hacker Mage Lords of global telecommunications, and other material pertaining to the business and technology of Undersea Fiber-Optic Cables, as well as an account of the laying of the longest wire on Earth, which should not be without interest to the readers of WIRED."