--- title: How the Mobile Internet Works | TIME description: In some ways, the internet actually is a series of tubes. Some cell phone and internet companies might like you to think that your mobile internet connection is truly wireless — but in reality, your data is largely still just shooting through wires. canonical: https://time.com/video/ZazsgW6S/ og:title: How the Mobile Internet Works og:description: In some ways, the internet actually is a series of tubes. Some cell phone and internet companies might like you to think that your mobile internet connection is truly wireless — but in reality, your data is largely still just shooting through wires. og:url: https://time.com/video/ZazsgW6S/ og:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/ZazsgW6S/poster.jpg?width=720 og:type: video.other twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How the Mobile Internet Works twitter:description: In some ways, the internet actually is a series of tubes. Some cell phone and internet companies might like you to think that your mobile internet connection is truly wireless — but in reality, your data is largely still just shooting through wires. twitter:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/ZazsgW6S/poster.jpg?width=720 --- # How the Mobile Internet Works > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Subscription: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition TIME is a general-interest news organization founded in 1923, reporting on the people, ideas and issues shaping the world. A TIME subscription provides full access to that journalism in print and digital, from $20 a year, and can be cancelled at any time. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ## Video: How the Mobile Internet Works [Watch (HLS stream): How the Mobile Internet Works](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/ZazsgW6S.m3u8) (1:57)  _Published 2016-07-06. In some ways, the internet actually is a series of tubes. Some cell phone and internet companies might like you to think that your mobile internet connection is truly wireless — but in reality, your data is largely still just shooting through wires._ --- Jul 27, 2023 8:20 PM UTC --- ## More From This Series [All Videos](https://time.com/video/) [Cubans Will Soon Get Full Internet Access on Their Mobile Phones](/video/zJ8FEQjm/) ### Cubans Will Soon Get Full Internet Access on Their Mobile Phones [Internet Machine](/video/t9dK5wDj/) ### Internet Machine [Internet Confession](/video/2UAGFXfJ/) ### Internet Confession --- ## Transcript [ NOISE ] Internet and cell phone companies have created the illusion of a giant wireless internet network. What is the cloud? [ CROSSTALK ] The cloud. The cloud. But in reality our data is still just crawling through wires. [ MUSIC ] This is a photo of your mom on vacation in Hawaii. She wants to send it to you and your whole family. Loads it up onto an email, sends it and she's all set, but that photo has a lot more work to do. First, it's got to go to the nearest cell tower. Next, it needs to go through Hawaii's local network of fiber optic cable. Goals. Here's where it gets complicated. Most of the internet isn't relayed through satellites. Instead, far- flung places are connected through massive underwater cables that go from one country to another. Billions of photos and videos and websites travel through these cables. But they're vulnerable. Someone could sneak up and cut them or hack into them. They sometimes get hit by anchors or boats trolling for fish. And there have even been problems with marine animals chewing them up. Sharks think they're tasty. So your mom's photo has to travel on the bottom on the Pacific Ocean just to get from Hawaii to the mainland USA. From there, the photo heads to an internet exchange point. One of the massive hubs where data shoots around. They're in New York City, Seattle, Atlanta and other spots around the country. These are kind of like the central stations of the Internet, directing data where to go. From there it will zip across the country through fiber optic cables, occasionally hitting routers and switches to send it the right way. [ MUSIC ] [ SOUND ] It's only right before the photo gets to your laptop or phone that your data goes wireless, when it's transmitted from a router or cell tower. So now you have no excuse to ignore your mom's photos from her vacation in Hawaii. [ MUSIC ] ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"How the Mobile Internet Works","description":"In some ways, the internet actually is a series of tubes. 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