Internet working: What actually happens when you hit Enter on a URL
· 12 min read
Every time I read a "how the internet works" article, I cringe - they all stop at DNS → TCP → HTTP → HTML. That's like explaining a car engine by saying "fuel goes in, wheels spin." Super helpful when the engine is on fire.
This post is what I wish someone had handed me when I was staring at a waterfall chart at 3 AM, wondering why a page took 4 seconds to load on a 1 Gbps connection. We're going to trace every system boundary crossing - from the electrical signal your keyboard fires to the GPU draw call that lights up the final pixel.